US markets will be closed today
US financial markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day, with trading resuming normally on Tuesday.
The markets are set to open in positive on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced a delay in imposing a 50% tariff on the European Union, extending the deadline to July 9. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 indices rose by more than 1% at 12:41 p.m. Mecca time.
US stocks ended Friday's trading with weekly losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite falling by 2.45%, 2.6%, and 2.45%, respectively.
The Dow Jones closed the week down 0.6% to 41,603 points, while the S&P 500 fell 0.65% to 5,802 points, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1% to 18,737 points.
This week, the markets are anticipating the publication of quarterly earnings reports from various companies, led by Nvidia, along with economic data such as the second reading of first-quarter GDP and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure.
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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after criticizing president's ‘big beautiful bill'
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk is leaving his government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. The billionaire entrepreneur posted Wednesday about his decision on X, his social media website. 'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' he wrote. 'The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.' A White House official, who requested anonymity to talk about the change, confirmed that Musk was leaving. Musk's departure comes one day after he criticized the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda, saying he was 'disappointed' by what the president calls his 'big beautiful bill.' The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. While speaking to CBS, Musk described it as a 'massive spending bill' that increases the federal deficit and 'undermines the work' of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. 'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,' Musk said. 'But I don't know if it could be both.' His CBS interview came out Tuesday night. Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, defended his agenda by talking about the delicate politics involved with negotiating the legislation. 'I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it,' he said. Trump also suggested that more changes could be made. 'We're going to see what happens,' he said. 'It's got a way to go.' Republicans recently pushed the measure through the House and are debating it in the Senate. Musk's concerns are shared by some Republican lawmakers. 'I sympathize with Elon being discouraged,' said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. Speaking at a Milwaukee Press Club event on Wednesday, Johnson added that he was 'pretty confident' there was enough opposition 'to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious' about reducing spending. He said there was no amount of pressure Trump could put on him to change his position. Speaker Mike Johnson has asked senators to make as few changes to the legislation as possible, saying that House Republicans reached a 'very delicate balance' that could be upended with major changes. The narrowly divided House will have to vote again on final passage once the Senate alters the bill. On Wednesday, Johnson thanked Musk for his work and promised to pursue more spending cuts in the future, saying 'the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE's findings.' The White House is sending some proposed rescissions, a mechanism used to cancel previously authorized spending, to Capitol Hill to solidify some of DOGE's cuts. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said the package will include $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and $8.3 billion in foreign assistance. Musk's criticism come as he steps back from his government work, rededicating himself to companies like the electric automaker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. He's also said he'll reduce his political spending, because 'I think I've done enough.' At times, he's seemed chastened by his experience working in government. Although he hoped that DOGE would generate $1 trillion in spending cuts, he's fallen far short of that target. 'The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,' he told The Washington Post. 'I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.' Musk had previously been energized by the opportunity to reshape Washington. He wore campaign hats in the White House, held his own campaign rallies, and talked about excessive spending as an existential crisis. He often tended to be effusive in his praise of Trump. 'The more I've gotten to know President Trump, the more I like the guy,' Musk said in February. 'Frankly, I love him.' Trump repaid the favor, describing Musk as 'a truly great American.' When Tesla faced declining sales, he turned the White House driveway into a makeshift showroom to illustrate his support. It's unclear what, if any, impact that Musk's comments about the bill would have on the legislative debate. During the transition period, he helped whip up opposition to a spending measure as the country stood on the brink of a federal government shutdown. His latest criticism could embolden Republicans who want bigger spending cuts. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee reposted a Fox News story about Musk's interview while also adding his own take on the measure, saying there was 'still time to fix it.' 'The Senate version will be more aggressive,' Lee said. 'It can, it must, and it will be. Or it won't pass.' Only two Republicans — Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted against the bill when the House took up the measure last week. Davidson took note of Musk's comments on social media. 'Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the Big Beautiful Bill where the House missed the moment,' he wrote. 'Don't hope someone else will cut deficits someday, know it has been done this Congress.' The Congressional Budget Office, in a preliminary estimate, said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other services would reduce spending by slightly more than $1 trillion over the same period. House Republican leaders say increased economic growth would allow the bill to be deficit-neutral or deficit-reducing, but outside watchdogs are skeptical. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the bill would add $3 trillion to the debt, including interest, over the next decade.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Massive Google Cloud outage disrupts popular internet services
NEW YORK: Popular online services across the globe were disrupted Thursday due to ongoing issues at Google Cloud. Tens of thousands of users of Spotify, Discord and other platforms began noticing issues with their services early in the afternoon, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages. Outage reports for music streamer Spotify in particular, peaked around 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time before dropping off, and some users began saying their access was restored. Google's Cloud status page said an incident with their systems affected clients in the US and abroad. The company also posted that services are starting to recover after its engineers identified and began to mitigate the issue. 'We have identified the root cause and applied appropriate mitigations,' Google Cloud said. It added that there is no estimate for when the issue would be fully resolved. Google Cloud, which hosts a significant amount of services on the Internet, has become the fastest growing part of Alphabet Inc., even though the company still makes most of its money from Google's ubiquitous search engine. Google Cloud's revenue last year totaled $43.2 billion, a 31 percent increase from 2023. By comparison, Alphabet's overall revenue grew by 14 percent last year.
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
After feud with Trump, role of Musk's SpaceX in Golden Dome missile shield in question
WASHINGTON: The role of Elon Musk's SpaceX in an ambitious new US missile defense system is in question following the dramatic feud last week between the billionaire entrepreneur and President Donald Trump, according to three people familiar with the project. The White House until recently had considered a plan for SpaceX, Musk's rocket and satellite venture, to partner with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to construct crucial elements of the project, dubbed 'Golden Dome.' The administration had instructed the Pentagon to prioritize a network of satellites for the purpose, these people said. But a new framework for the system, which would seek to track and prevent possible missile attacks against the United States, is now being considered that could reduce the role of SpaceX. One possibility, the three people said, could initially forego SpaceX's satellite capabilities and focus on the expansion of existing ground systems for missile defense instead. In a statement, a White House spokesman said 'the Trump Administration is committed to a rigorous review process for all bids and contracts.' A senior Defense Department official said the Pentagon 'has no announcements regarding future contracts associated with the Golden Dome effort.' SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir didn't respond to requests for comment. A reduced role for SpaceX would represent the first known setback to Musk's huge volume of business with the US government since his break with Trump last week. The shift in plans, especially for a project that Trump has touted as paramount for US defense strategy, also underscores the highly personalized nature of the president's leadership, aerospace and defense experts said. 'That people guiding the program or building it are approved based on their political affiliation signals a real concern that the project itself is very politicized and not being conducted on the technical merits,' said Laura Grego, a missile defense expert and research director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In its statement to Reuters, the White House said any decision would be made 'prioritizing the best deal for America and leveraging the most advanced and innovative technology.' Trump in May said the defense shield should be operational by the end of his presidency, January 2029. But industry experts have said that timeframe, and a projected cost of some $175 billion, could be too optimistic. The change in the proposed 'architecture' of the system, the three people said, could have the political advantage of allowing the current administration to deliver at least a portion of it. It isn't clear how soon a final decision on the project could come or whether the ultimate role of any company, including SpaceX, has been determined. Trump's efforts to roll out the project fast have led to uncertainty about the project's details and a scramble by contractors to be involved, industry experts and some of those involved in its development told Reuters. 'To this day, no one knows what the requirements are,' said one of the people familiar with the process. 'There isn't a coordinated effort with a true vision. All of these companies are just grabbing at this pot of money.' SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir were all founded by entrepreneurs who have been major political supporters of Trump. The three companies had previously met with top administration officials and decisionmakers from the Defense Department to discuss Golden Dome, according to people familiar with those discussions. Before his high-profile falling out with the president, Musk served as a key Trump adviser and donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect him. But the recent dispute, which included Musk calling for Trump's impeachment and accusing the president of improper involvement with disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, triggered the change in direction, the three people told Reuters. 'Because of the blowup, the Pentagon has been given the space to look at other alternatives,' one of the people said. In recent days, Musk has sought to temper the dispute, saying he regretted some of his comments and taking down some of his social media criticism of Trump, including the call for impeachment. Earlier this week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump appreciated Musk's apology and that she was unaware of any administration efforts to review Musk contracts because of the dispute. Reuters couldn't determine whether Musk's conciliatory overtures might improve SpaceX's chances of winning Golden Dome contracts or securing further new business with the US government. SpaceX had pitched for a part of the Golden Dome initiative called the 'custody layer,' a constellation of between 400 and 1,000 satellites that would detect missiles, track their trajectory, and determine if they are heading toward the US, Reuters reported in April. In a January 27 executive order, Trump mandated the selection of a proposed 'architecture' for Golden Dome and an implementation plan by the end of March. The order called a missile attack 'the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.'
