US markets experience ‘volatile session' amid trade concerns
Northern Hemisphere markets experienced a 'volatile session' of trading, particularly in the United States, according to CommSec's Tom Piotrowski.
'Revisiting of trade concerns was at the heart of a decline for US markets,' he told Sky News Australia.
'So, you had the Nasdaq down by about a per cent, the S&P 500 down by almost three quarters of a per cent, the Dow Jones was down by about 0.6 of a per cent.'
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‘No. Well, no': Elon Musk blindsided by awkward question during TV interview
Elon Musk should probably have a chat with his PR team. The billionaire boss of Tesla and SpaceX, who has spent this most recent week exiting the Trump administration, was caught in an awkward moment today as a TV interviewer tried to probe his views on the US government's current policies. Mr Musk donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Donald Trump's election campaign last year, and was then appointed to head up the nebulous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose aim is to slash government spending. Whether it's a real government department or not, and whether Mr Musk was actually, technically leading it or not, and whether its actions have been legally sound or not, are all questions that are still being litigated. DOGE has fallen rather short of Mr Musk's initial assertion, during the campaign, that he would cut $US2 trillion from the federal budget. His DOGE team currently claims to have slashed around $US150 billion, and has repeatedly had to edit specific claimed cuts after getting its facts wrong. Oh, and Mr Trump's Republican Party in Congress has put forward a budget that would, in fact, balloon America's federal deficit. So ... incremental progress, at best. I digress. The interview. Mr Musk was speaking to CBS News journalist David Pogue. One slightly explosive excerpt was released by CBS last week, ahead of the full thing airing. It showed Mr Musk critiquing the aforementioned budget, supported by Mr Trump, which he said 'undermines the work the DOGE team is doing'. 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly,' Mr Musk said in the clip, adding that the Republicans' bill 'increases the budget deficit'. Now that we can watch the full interview, it turns out those quotes from Mr Musk were only given reluctantly. Mr Pogue began by asking Mr Musk about Mr Trump's tariffs. 'I noticed that all of your businesses involve a lot of components, a lot of parts. Do the tariffs and the trade wars affect any of this?' he asked. 'You know, tariffs always affect things a little bit,' replied Mr Musk, visibly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. Mr Pogue pivoted to Mr Trump's clampdown on foreign students coming to America. 'Wondering what your thought is on the ban on foreign students,' he said. 'I mean, you were one of those kids, right?' Mr Musk, who was born in South Africa, had stint in Canada and then came to the United States on a student visa in the 1990s. 'Yeah, I mean, I think we want to stick to, you know, the subject of the day. Which is, like, spaceships, as opposed to presidential policy,' Mr Musk told Mr Pogue. 'OK? I was told anything's good,' said the reporter. 'No. Well. No,' said Mr Musk, with a grim smile. A mix-up, it seems, between CBS and Mr Musk's PR team. Or a case of Mr Musk undercutting said PR team. Either way, it was awkward. But he was eventually coaxed to speak about the Trump administration's policies, as shown by the quotes mentioned earlier. The CBS interview aired a couple of days after Mr Musk's farewell press conference alongside Mr Trump in the Oval Office. In a case of inconvenient timing, that media conference happened shortly after a New York Times report on the DOGE boss's alleged drug use was published. Mr Musk was asked about the report which, among other things, cited sources to say his use of ketamine was so chronic that he had come to suffer from bladder issues. It also alleged he had been using ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. 'Is this The New York Times?' Mr Musk said, cutting off Fox News journalist Peter Doocy as he asked about the report. 'Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russia-gate? 'I think the judge just ruled against The New York Times for their lies about the Russiagate hoax, and they might have to give back that prize. 'Let's move on.' He did not directly address the allegations about his drug use. 'Russia-gate' has become a catch-all for the American media's reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election, as well as the FBI's investigation into that interference, mostly led by former FBI director Robert Mueller, who was appointed to be a special counsel by Mr Trump's Justice Department during his first term. The Mueller investigation resulted in dozens of prosecutions, which encompassed several of the staff in Mr Trump's inner circle – chiefly his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort. But it did not find sufficient evidence to support the conspiracy theory of so-called 'collusion' between Mr Trump and Russia. In his remarks, there, Mr Musk appears to have been referring to a ruling from a court in Florida. The Pulitzer Prize Board wanted to have a defamation trial, regarding its decision to award prizes to both The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on Russia's interference, deferred until after Mr Trump's current term in office. The court denied that motion. The New York Times report also asserted that Mr Musk had been forewarned about random drug tests at SpaceX, whose extensive government contracts mean it is subject to certain, quite stringent rules. Needless to say, the billionaire's employees receive no such warnings. Mr Musk has previously claimed he only uses ketamine infrequently, every couple of weeks. Later on the same day as the Oval Office press conference, Mr Trump was asked directly about the New York Times report. 'Were you aware of Elon Musk's regular drug use?' a journalist asked him. 'No, I wasn't. I think he's fantastic. I think Elon is a fantastic guy,' said Mr Trump. 'Are you troubled by these reports?' the reporter followed up. 'I'm not troubled by anything with Elon. I think he's fantastic. Did a great job,' he said. 'And, you know, DOGE continues. And by the time it's finished, we'll have numbers that'll knock your socks off. It's going to be, uh, he did a fantastic job. And he didn't need it. He didn't need to do it.' Mr Musk, for his part, exited the administration with a message of gratitude. 'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' he posted on social media.
