Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, and the leader of Tesla, SpaceX, X, the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency as well as a recent group of investors bidding to buy OpenAI.
From a business point of view, Musk’s accomplishments are undeniable. The companies he heads are not only market leaders, but often trailblazers in their field — consider how Tesla kickstarted the electric-vehicle industry or how SpaceX successfully commercialized space flight.
Paradoxically, achieving success too broadly can have deleterious effects. Investors seem to be growing worried that Musk, for all his business acumen, is getting distracted, with his fingers in too many pies. Tesla shares have fallen for the past five trading days, plunging over 6% on Tuesday as Chinese rival BYD appears to be eclipsing the company on AI-enabled autonomous driving.
What you need to know today
BYD threatens Tesla
Tesla shares fell 6.3% Tuesday after Chinese EV maker BYD said it will integrate DeepSeek into its autonomous driving technology and offer it in nearly all its vehicles. There are also concerns over Musk’s distractions, such as his bid for Open AI and his role at the “Department of Government Efficiency” in the White House. Tesla’s stock price has fallen over 16% in the past five trading days.
Griffin warns of loss of trust in U.S.
The U.S.’ “bombastic rhetoric” regarding trade tariffs is a “huge mistake” that is already eroding the trust CEOs and policymakers have in the country, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Tuesday at the UBS Financial Services Conference in Key Biscayne, Florida. Griffin also warned in November that tariffs could lead to crony capitalism. The billionaire investor voted for U.S. President Donald Trump and was a megadonor to Republican politicians.
Tentative U.S. markets
U.S. markets were mixed Tuesday as investors digested U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments in the Senate that the central bank doesn’t need to “be in a hurry” to adjust its policy stance. The S&P 500 was mostly flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.28% and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.36%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index added 0.23% for its second record close this week.
Super Micro Computer reassures investors
Super Micro Computer CEO Charles Liang said on Tuesday he is “confident” that the company will file its delayed annual report by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Feb. 25 deadline. The company also said it expects to hit $40 billion in revenue in fiscal 2026, higher than the $30 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Shares of the company jumped as much as 8.4% in extended trading.
[PRO] How to play the CPI
The U.S. consumer price index report will be released Wednesday and comes at a time when inflation concerns have resurged because of tariffs and higher-than-expected wage growth in January. JPMorgan traders laid out how the S&P 500 could react based on the CPI reading. The scenarios range from a 1.75% increase to a 2% fall, including an asset class that could “react violently.”
And finally…
India’s oil minister says ‘we play by the rules,’ as markets weigh U.S. energy sanctions
India will “play by the rules” and not “go around” international sanctions regarding oil markets, the country’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told CNBC on Tuesday at the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference. India’s refiners have been snapping up discounted Russian oil since Western and G7 energy sanctions barred many consumers from Moscow’s supplies. New Delhi has repeatedly defended its purchases as a matter of national interest.
Puri also signaled that the government of Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, had endorsed India’s bolstered intake of Russian oil. “I’ve had a chat with the Americans, the previous administration. They said, please buy as much as you like. Just make sure that you buy it within the price cap. And that’s what we did,” Puri said.
