Before the bell: soap opera in the White House

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are clashing, while Trump and Xi Jinping begin talks to patch things up.

Not a day goes by without some headline involving President Donald Trump. Yesterday, he lashed out at Elon Musk, saying he was “deeply disappointed” that the Tesla CEO had criticized his tax reform. The dispute continued on social media, where the two exchanged heated blows. Trump threatened to cut off Musk’s government contracts, and Musk responded by calling for Trump’s removal and replacement by JD Vance. Tesla’s stock took a beating, plunging over 14%. Still, there was some good news from the White House: Trump and Xi Jinping have agreed to begin talks on a potential trade agreement. It wasn’t enough to turn the tide. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed down 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively. European indices were mostly flat. The European Central Bank did cut interest rates, but signaled that no further cuts are imminent. 

In Asia this morning, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.2%, while Japan’s Topix rose 0.4%. In the US, FuelCell Energy will report earnings today.

Fintech Wise gets a second home

British fintech Wise is swapping London for New York as its primary listing. The company, which debuted on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 at a valuation of 9 billion pounds, will keep that listing. However, it also plans to list shares on Wall Street to attract more investors. That news sent shares of Wise 7.2% higher yesterday.
Founded in 2011 as TransferWise by two Estonian entrepreneurs, Wise focuses on international money transfers and poses a serious challenge to traditional banks due to its low-cost model. Still, it will take about a year before the shares become tradable on the New York exchange.

Even Jack Daniel’s has a hangover

European alcohol companies have been under pressure for some time. Rémy Cointreau has lost more than 40% of its stock value over the past year, while Diageo shed 26%. Now, a combination of tariff disputes, changing consumer habits, and the rise of weight-loss drugs is shaking up the American spirits industry as well.
Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel’s, reported 894 million dollars in revenue for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year—well below analyst expectations of 965 million dollars. Earnings per share came in at 31 cents, also below forecasts. Investors responded by sending the stock down more than 17.9% on the New York Stock Exchange. The outlook doesn’t look much better. The company cited ongoing consumer uncertainty and potential import tariffs as challenges for the year ahead.

Did you know…

that the Nintendo Switch 2 sold out on launch day yesterday? Fans camped out in long lines around the world—some of them went home empty-handed.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.