Trump’s Libra Slam May Have Kneecapped Facebook Stock
Trump's vicious assault on Libra may have kneecapped Facebook stock, which now lags both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. | Source: Tom Brenner/Getty/AFP (i), Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / AFP (ii). Image Edited by CCN.com.
In the age of Trump, all it takes is a single tweet to move the stock market. And the president may have done just that when he launched a tripartite attack on Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency.
Facebook Stock Can’t Shake the Trump Dump
Facebook stock has remained trapped in a holding pattern since Trump gave Mark Zuckerberg’s crypto plans a big thumbs down , even as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have continued to press toward new all-time highs .
FB shares dipped to $199.31 in after-hours trading on Friday, placing them roughly 1% below where they stood on July 11 when Trump unexpectedly proclaimed that Libra would “have little standing or dependability” and would never compete with the US dollar.
That’s not a large decline, but it does place Facebook on a different trajectory from the rest of the stock market. The Nasdaq has added 134.17 points or 1.6% since its July 11 close, while the S&P 500 has advanced 25.95 points or 0.9%.
The divergence is even more pronounced since Libra chief David Marcus appeared on Capitol Hill and suffered a shellacking from Facebook critics hailing from all corners of the political spectrum. The consensus coming out of Marcus’ two days of testimony was that Libra faced a brutal road to regulatory approval – if the controversial cryptocurrency ever launches at all.
Not even a bullish earnings report has been enough to lift Facebook back to index parity, though FB shares did enjoy a fleeting spike above both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq that quickly gave way to its previous downtrend.
Trump’s Bitcoin-Bashing May Have Contributed to 15% Sell-Off
On the other hand, Facebook stock’s sluggish fortnight looks far more appetizing than the bitcoin price’s ugly trajectory since the Trump administration initiated a series of verbal attacks on the flagship cryptocurrency.
At last check, the bitcoin price was teetering around $9,500, more than 15% lower than when Trump became the first US president to utter the word “bitcoin.”
