Tesla shares dropped 5.2% as chief Elon Musk resumed his opposition to US President Donald Trump’s proposed tax and spending bill, which will add trillions to the federal government deficit, as Senate passed the legislation in a late-night session needing vice president JD Vance’s casting vote to clear the hurdle.
Wall Street was mixed with the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite sliding from its record high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average marched higher with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies pacing its gains.
Meanwhile, milk prices fell for a fourth time at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction and the kiwi dollar walked back gains from a peak for 2025.
And, speculation is growing about potential bidders for Fletcher Building’s construction division, with Malaysia’s Gamuda reported as showing an interest in the Kiwi firm’s business.
Casting vote
US President Donald Trump’s policy programme took another step forward as the Senate passed the big and beautiful tax and spending bill, with vice president JD Vance’s casting vote needed to break the tie.
Former Trump lieutenant Elon Musk resumed his opposition to the law over its wide-ranging spending, which will boost the federal government’s deficit by US$3.3 trillion over the next decade. Trump and Musk renewed their earlier spat over the programme, triggering a slide in Tesla shares, which were down 5.2% in late trading.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was broadly weaker, down 0.9% as it came off a record, with Nvidia and Rocket Lab among those on the red side of the ledger.
Meanwhile, the Dow climbed 0.9% with healthcare and pharmaceutical companies including Amgen, UnitedHealth and Merck & Co among the index’s leaders.
UK-listed AstraZeneca gained after its chief executive told The Times it’s considering shifting its listing to the US.
Across the Atlantic, stock markets were mixed with the UK’s FTSE 100 up 0.3% and Germany’s DAX 30 falling 1% as investors awaited the Senate vote on the tax and spending law.
Safe havens
Gold prices rallied, with gold futures up 1.3% at US$3,350 an ounce at 7am in Auckland, as investors fret over the looming deadline for nations to cut deals with the US over the White House’s tariff regime.
Casino operators Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts rallied after global gaming hub Macau reported a jump in gaming revenue in June. NZX-listed SkyCity Entertainment Group has been trading near record lows with Australasian casino operators facing heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Milk prices fell for a fourth time at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, with the GDT price index down 4.1% with an average selling price of US$4,274 a tonne. Whole milk powder prices, a key export for New Zealand dairy companies, dropped 5.1% to US$3,859 a tonne.
The kiwi dollar traded at 60.90 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 60.93 cents yesterday, having hit a new high for the year of 61.20 cents.
Australian futures are pointing to a 0.3% increase when the S&P/ASX 200 index opens.
Meanwhile, The Australian’s DataRoom column reported Malaysia’s Gamuda has expressed an interest in Fletcher Building’s construction division following last week’s briefing to investors on the building materials firm’s turnaround. Fletcher previously signalled it’s received interest for a variety of its businesses, including the construction division.
There’s no major local data scheduled for today.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from MIKE STOLL on Unsplash.
