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  • China announces plans to sell seized crypto via Hong Kong exchanges China has announced plans to sell seized digital assets through licensed exchanges in Hong Kong. The initiative is in collaboration with the China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEX) to manage digital assets seized in criminal cases. In line with this, CBEX will engage third-party agencies to help sell the assets on regulated exchanges. According to reports, the digital assets seized from criminal proceeds will be converted into yuan and deposited into designated accounts. This is the first time a mainland Chinese agency will be carrying out a process to dispose of seized digital assets. This development is possible because Hong Kong is recognized as a digital asset hub, with mainland China still choosing to enforce its ban on crypto trading and related activities. China’s crypto disposal process shows the scale of seized assets The recent framework represents the first time a formal process is being followed to ensure the handling of a large amount of confiscated digital assets that have been accumulated since China announced its crypto ban. According to authorities, the value of the digital assets awaiting disposal by the Chinese authorities exceeded several billion dollars by the end of 2022, with the amount jumping to 430.7 billion yuan ($60 billion) in 2023. The figure is a twelvefold increase from the previous year. The trend aligns with that of the global cryptocurrency seizures, with several countries now holding a huge chunk of digital assets from seizures and fraud investigations. According to reports, the United States presently holds about 200,000 Bitcoins worth $21 billion in seized assets, while the United Kingdom holds more than 61,000 Bitcoins in seized assets. China reportedly holds about 194,000 Bitcoins and 833,000 Ethereum, putting the country among the top holders in the world. The Chinese government continues to rank as one of the highest holders globally despite its ban on the asset. Some days ago, news filtered onto the internet noting that China has banned private individuals from owning digital assets. While the news has not been confirmed by official channels, the country still has a ban on assets dating back to 2013, when the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) prohibited banks in the country from engaging in Bitcoin-related businesses. Hong Kong deepens its status as a cryptocurrency hub The amount of seized assets has presented a challenge to the authorities, with the development also seen as an opportunity for them. While there are concerns about the market balance should they dump that size of seized assets on the market, there have been calls for them to quickly turn the seized illicit gains into legitimate state resources that will benefit the citizens. Meanwhile, Beijing’s decision to liquidate the assets through Hong Kong exchanges reveals a dual approach to digital asset regulation from territories inside China. It also establishes Hong Kong’s status as a cryptocurrency hub. Over the last few years, the area has been positioning itself as a global hub for digital assets as China continues to maintain its strict crypto ban. The country has been cracking down on exchanges, ICOs, and mining since at least 2017. Furthermore, there have been sightings of Chinese officials at crypto events in Hong Kong, allowing the city to develop as a testing ground for digital asset policies that the mainland isn’t ready to adopt or implement. This arrangement ensures Beijing controls the financial systems in the mainland while exploring the potential of cryptocurrencies through its regulatory sandbox in Hong Kong. The partnership between both parties also opens a formal channel between China’s strict control and the global crypto economy, setting a precedent for other areas with restrictive crypto policies.
  • Texas woman sues state lottery after not receiving controversial $83.5M jackpot A customer grabs printed tickets from a Texas Lottery sales terminal at Fuel City in Dallas, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. A woman in Texas is suing the state’s Lottery Commission for not paying out an $83.5 million award, more than three months after the numbers on her ticket matched the winning numbers in a drawing, according to court documents obtained by CNN. “Every Texan knows what that should mean when it comes to the lottery – if you win, you should get paid,” the suit says. “It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get paid when you win the lottery. But that’s exactly what has happened here.” The woman bought her ticket through a lottery courier service, firms which allow customers to purchase tickets virtually, using a mobile app or other online interface. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the suit, purchased a ticket for the “Lotto Texas” lottery game through an app called Jackpocket on February 17, and her numbers matched those of the numbers pulled at 10:12 p.m. CT the same day, according to the lawsuit. A week after Doe won her ticket, then-Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Ryan Mindell announced a move to ban courier services like the one Doe used, under Texas law. The ban became effective on May 19, according to a lottery commission spokesperson. Mindell resigned in April. “We all know the Commission is not allowed to change the rules after the drawing. But the Commission has apparently tried to do so and relied—at least in part—on this ex post facto announcement to continue to refuse to pay Plaintiff her lottery winnings simply because she utilized a lottery ticket courier service to buy the winning ticket,” the lawsuit says. A spokesperson told CNN in an email Saturday the commission “does not comment on pending litigation.” The lawsuit also alleges Doe’s unpaid winnings could be used to pay other Texas Lottery winners, or may be reallocated and redirected to “other Commission liabilities or purposes,” potentially reducing the amount owed to her. Attorneys for the woman have also filed for a temporary restraining order and requested for a temporary injunction to stop Acting Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission Sergio Rey from doling out funds, which the lawsuit alleges Doe still has not received. “If Mr. Rey is not restrained and enjoined from disbursing or diminishing the Plaintiff’s jackpot prize winnings, Plaintiff will suffer damages that will be incapable of being measured by any certain pecuniary standard before notice is given and a hearing is held on Plaintiff’s Application for Temporary Injunction,” a court document said. CNN has reached out to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, Jackpocket, and Rey for comment. What is a lottery courier service? A lottery courier service acts as a third-party vendor that buys lottery tickets on behalf of customers, coordinates the purchase of physical tickets through brick and mortar stores the services often own, and notifies buyers if they win. Courier services are typically operated online or through an app, offering a convenient way to play games. Some couriers even offer national lottery games like Mega Millions and Powerball. Lottery couriers, which had been operating in Texas since 2019, became a focus in April 2023 after a single entity bought 25 million lottery tickets in less than 72 hours using a courier service, CNN affiliate WFAA reported. The entity purchased “nearly every possible number combination,” the release from the governor’s office said at the time. The investor doubled its money because the jackpot was so high, and the winner took home $57.8 million before taxes, WFAA said. Courier services are operating in 19 states, according to a report published in 2024 by the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. Only three states – New York, New Jersey and Arkansas – regulate the courier service industry, according to a 2024 Texas House report. Without such regulations in Texas, couriers are not required to obtain a license or permission from the Texas Lottery to operate, the report found. Purchasing via a lottery courier has two advantages for the customer, said Victor Matheson, professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross. “It allows the buyer to conveniently buy tickets without having to go to a regular lottery retailer and it also potentially allows out-of-state buyers to purchase tickets in any lottery across the country,” Matheson said in February. The service can have drawbacks like a fee, legality issues and lack of a limit to how many tickets are purchased, Matheson added. Other legal concerns include the regulation of sales across state lines when each state controls its own lottery games, sales to underage players, ticket buying syndicates and other issues.
  • Stocks, dollar stumble after Trump reignites his trade war Stocks dropped on Friday after President Donald Trump threatened to reignite his trade war. The S&P 500 posted its worst week in seven weeks. Markets thought they had a serious debt problem. Now they have a trade war problem to worry about again. Stocks and the dollar fell Friday after President Donald Trump brought the trade war back to the forefront with threats of massive tariffs against one of America’s most valuable companies and one of its most important trading partners. Trump posted on Truth social Friday morning that he would impose a 25% tariff on Apple if it refused to make iPhones in the United States. Minutes later, Trump said he would recommend a 50% tariff on goods imported from the European Union. The Dow closed lower by 256 points, or 0.61%. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.67%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 1%. All three indexes finished the week in the red. The Dow and Nasdaq each posted their worst week in five weeks. The S&P 500 notched its worst week since the first week of April. Dow futures had tumbled as much as 600 points Friday morning after Trump posted his tariff threat. Stocks opened sharply lower before paring losses throughout the day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Bloomberg TV interview that he expects “several large deals” will be announced in the coming weeks. Bessent also said he expects US and Chinese officials to meet in person again to continue trade negotiations following a temporary pause on higher tariff rates. While stocks recouped some losses, the major indexes remained in the red as Trump said at the White House in the afternoon he was “not looking for a deal” with the EU. Related article Trump says he’s ‘not looking for a deal’ with the EU after threatening a 50% tariff Trump’s stark tariff threats paired with Bessent’s optimistic trade remarks sent Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, on a rollercoaster. The VIX was up 8% in the afternoon after surging as much as 23% in the morning. The US dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against six major foreign currencies, slid 0.8%. The dollar index posted its biggest single-day drop in one month and notched its worst week in six weeks. Gold, a safe haven during uncertainty, surged 2%. “Markets once again face the fear of high tariffs on a major trading partner,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at US Bank Asset Management. “We believe that this morning’s social media posts about a 50% tariff on the EU are primarily a negotiating tactic,” analysts at Barclays said in a Friday note. “But today’s developments, including the posts about iPhones, do highlight that the US has not turned the page on tariffs and that more trade policy volatility lies ahead.” Tariffs back in focus Wall Street in recent weeks had begun to shift focus away from tariffs and toward Trump’s tax bill — its own headache for markets — after the United States and China in May opened trade negotiations and agreed to substantially lower tariffs, easing investors’ nerves about the trade war. But Trump’s new threat of tariffs on the EU was a sharp reminder that policy uncertainty remains. David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie, said in a recent note that it is not “all-clear” on the trade war front, and tariffs remain a “substantial headwind” to the US economy. “Today’s early market action does not approve of a threat directed at another corporate, and the idea of a 50% EU tariff rate,” analysts at Citi said in a Friday note. “This is sure giving us déjà vu.” The S&P 500 sank in early April after Trump announced massive “reciprocal” tariffs, and rebounded sharply after the president a week later announced a 90-day pause on most of them. Investors have been on edge about potential developments during the 90-day pause, which is set to end in July. “This calls into question whether investors can trust that any pauses announced by the Administration are actually solid, which only further muddies the landscape,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird. “Expect volatility to persist.” Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments, said the market reaction to Trump’s threat of 50% tariffs on the EU will likely be more “measured” than past tariff announcements because “the playbook now involves a high likelihood of Trump caving at some point.” “But the uncertain timing and not-zero chance that he doesn’t cave will keep equities on edge for the next couple of weeks, at least,” Ladner said. The United States so far during the 90-day pause has only announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom. Apple (AAPL) on Friday dropped 3% after Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on the company’s products unless it moves manufacturing to the United States. The tech giant has tumbled 22% this year as it has been caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war. Apple’s market value dipped back below the $3 trillion mark on Friday as its stock stumbled. And it’s not just Big Tech taking a hit. Retirement plans like 401(k)s are often invested in funds that track the S&P 500, and large companies like Apple make up a notable portion of the index’s value. As Trump’s trade war roils blue-chip stocks like Apple, it can impact people’s retirement savings. “You just can’t continue to keep an economy and companies operating in a cloud of extraordinarily high uncertainty forever without some economic consequences eventually,” Ladner said. “That’s going to be the tug of war the next several months.” Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on May 23. The tariff jolt on Friday comes after markets this week have already been floundering under pressure from the bond market. Investors this week balked at Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill, and weak demand for US government bonds sent yields surging. Related article Why the bond market is so worried about the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ “Markets are looking for a little more fiscal discipline, they’re concerned,” Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller told Fox Business on Thursday. “There does seem to be, you know, a risk-off on American assets across the board, not just government debt, but everything,” Waller said. “And whether that continues in the future or not, I don’t know.” The yield on the 10-year Treasury note on Friday edged lower to 4.51% as investors scooped up bonds amid renewed trade uncertainty. In Europe, markets tumbled after Trump’s threat of a higher tariff for the region that could go into effect June 1. The benchmark STOXX 600 index fell 0.93%. Germany’s DAX fell 1.54% and France’s CAC index slid 1.65%. The S&P 500 posted its fourth day of losses in a row as the recent rebound in US markets has stalled. The benchmark index is down slightly on the year
  • Regeneron to buy bankrupt DNA testing firm 23andMe for $256 million This illustration picture shows a saliva collection kit for DNA testing displayed in Washington DC on December 19, 2018. - Between 2015 and 2018, sales of DNA test kits boomed in the United States and allowed websites to build a critical mass of DNA profiles. The four DNA websites that offer match services -- Ancestry, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA, My Heritage -- today have so many users that it is rare for someone not to find at least one distant relative. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images) Drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will buy genetic testing firm 23andMe for $256 million through a bankruptcy auction, the companies said Monday. Regeneron said it will comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable laws with respect to the use of customer data and that it is ready to detail its intended use of the data to a court-appointed overseer. The bankruptcy proceedings, filed in March, had drawn scrutiny from lawmakers who warned that millions of customers’ genetic data could be sold to unscrupulous buyers. 23andMe last month agreed to allow a court-appointed overseer for the company’s handling of customers’ genetic information and its security policies during the bankruptcy. Related article 23andMe’s DNA data is going up for sale. Here’s why companies might want it The company has collected genetic data from 15 million customers who ordered its DNA testing kits online and provided saliva samples. The company had been struggling with weak demand for its ancestry testing kits and a data breach in 2023 that exposed millions of customers’ genetic data. As part of the agreement, Regeneron will acquire all units of 23andMe, except telehealth service Lemonaid Health, which the genetic testing firm plans to wind down. After the transaction completes, 23andMe will continue to operate as a wholly owned direct or indirect unit of Regeneron, the companies said. The companies expect to close the deal in the third quarter.
  • Trump’s crypto conflicts keep piling up. He’s not even trying to hide them Trump and his sons' crypto endeavors are expanding, creating more and more avenues for potential corruption. The Trump family’s crypto empire is expanding rapidly, and it’s making earlier ethics debates over his hotel and casino business interests look downright quaint. There are only so many rooms a foreign diplomat can book to curry favor with the president, and that might total into thousands of dollars, at most. And even President Donald Trump might have a limit on how many luxury Qatari jets he’d accept as gifts. But in the opaque world of cryptocurrencies, where transactions are often anonymous and unbound by national borders, there is virtually no cap on the amount of money a person or government could funnel to the president, his family and the growing list of entities they control. That list of entities already includes two “meme coins” — digital assets with no utility that serious crypto advocates tend to roll their eyes at — and an exchange called World Liberty Financial, which issues its own token. And soon, anyone with a brokerage account will be able to buy shares on the open market of American Bitcoin, a crypto mining firm backed by the president’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. ‘Sum of all fears’ News of American Bitcoin’s plans to go public emerged Monday night, around the same time that another crypto side hustle was wrapping up: Bidding ended Monday in an auction for a private dinner with Trump, billed as an “unforgettable gala,” for the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin. The top 25 were promised face time with Trump and a “VIP tour” of one of his private clubs. The dinner auction may be the most flagrant pay-to-play effort Trump has engaged in as president so far. “He is essentially selling access to the presidency of the United States,” said Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW. Libowitz described the auction as “the sum of all fears” scenario — the exact thing that the United States’ founders were worried about when they included the (unfortunately branded) emoluments clause in the Constitution. (Tl;dr: People working for the federal government can’t receive gifts from foreign governments without Congress’ approval.) Presidents giving access to campaign donors is nothing new — in the ’90s, the Bill Clinton administration lavished dozens of Democratic contributors with stays in the Lincoln Bedroom, in a scandal known as the Fat Cat Hotel. But crypto offers a level of anonymity and scale that the White House has never seen. Over the past month, crypto investors plowed an estimated $148 million into Trump’s meme coin, according to Reuters, which cited data from crypto research firm Chainalysis. The vast majority of the coin’s supply — 80% — is held by two Trump Organization affiliates, which make money through transaction fees. Chainalysis estimates that those entities raked in at least $1.3 million in fees in the weeks after Trump announced the private dinner auction. The dinner auction is just part of the crypto controversy. Earlier this month, the New York Times’ David Yaffe-Bellany reported that World Liberty Financial had secured a deal to take $2 billion in deposits from a venture fund backed by the government of Abu Dhabi — a revelation that helped torpedo crypto industry-supported legislation in the Senate last week. Even crypto advocates on the right aren’t loving the optics of a president directly enriching himself and his family through an industry that he is not only actively working to deregulate but also bolster through the establishment of a “strategic” bitcoin reserve. Related article A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, one of the sponsors of the stalled legislation, told the Times in an interview that Trump’s profit-seeking “does give me pause because it complicates our work here.” The White House, for its part, has repeatedly pushed back on any questions about the president’s business interests. On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed a question about whether the president would conduct personal business meetings on his trip to the Middle East. “It’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit,” Leavitt said. “This White House holds ourselves to the highest of ethical standards.” (Ethicists and legal experts disagree, as my CNN colleagues note in their investigation of Trump family’s expansive financial interests in the Middle East.) Trump’s crypto entanglements are particularly worrying, according to Libowitz, for two reasons. For starters, crypto is still niche, and a 2024 Pew study found just 17% of US adults have ever invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency. (And if they know about the industry, they likely know it through names like Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto exchange FTX, who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud.) “There’s almost a level of security by obscurity,” Libowitz said. Second: The scale of the potential corruption is boundless. “There’s a limit to how many $800 hotel rooms you can book… And you’re limited in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. “But someone can just make a $20 million crypto purchase, and that’s a scale we’ve never seen before.”
  • Trump says ‘great progress made’ between US and China following first day of trade talks US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent leaves his hotel for a meeting on tariffs with Chinese officials in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday. President Donald Trump said Saturday there was “great progress made” on trade talks between the United States and China, amid a possible thaw in the trade war sparked by his massive tariffs. “A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business. GREAT PROGRESS MADE!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social. It was the first comment from Trump after a day of talks in Geneva between US officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Chinese officials. A source briefed on the meetings told CNN talks will continue Sunday. Bessent urged the public earlier this week not to expect a major trade deal out of the meetings, but he acknowledged it was an important step in negotiations. Related article Zero ships from China are bound for California’s top ports. Officials haven’t seen that since the pandemic Vice Premier He Lifeng is leading the talks on the Chinese side, state broadcaster CCTV said in a brief report. Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua called the Switzerland talks “an important step toward resolving the issue.” “However, an ultimate solution requires sufficient strategic patience and determination, as well as the just support of the international community,” Xinhua said. The US has placed a minimum 145% tariff on most Chinese imports, and China has responded with a 125% tariff on most US imports. As a result, trade between the two sides is falling sharply, according to logistics experts. Even reducing that tariff rate by half might not be enough to change trade levels significantly. Economists have said 50% is the make-or-break threshold for the return of somewhat normal business between the two countries. On Friday, hours after Bessent and Greer had set off for Switzerland, Trump floated the possibility of slashing tariffs on Chinese goods to 80% while demanding China “open up its market to USA.” “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. The combination of fewer goods arriving in the US and increased costs on imports that do arrive has already started pushing up prices for Americans. Goldman Sachs analysts said Thursday that a key measure of inflation would effectively double to 4% by the end of the year because of Trump’s trade war. And with ships carrying goods under the 145% tariffs now coming into port, a trade deal wouldn’t lower prices immediately. To say Americans depend on a wide range of Chinese goods understates how pervasive they have become in daily life. Footwear, clothes, appliances, microchips, baby goods, toys, sports equipment, office machine parts and much more all pour into the US from China in staggering numbers. But now those imports are decreasing. Imports into the United States during the second half of 2025 are expected to fall at least 20% year over year, according to the National Retail Federation. The decline from China will be even starker. Investment bank JPMorgan expects a 75% to 80% drop in imports from there. Economic impact The trade war has already affected the US economy. The nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the US economy, showed America’s first quarterly contraction since early 2022, as importers raced to bring in goods before punishing tariff rates kicked in. The impact of the sky-high tariffs is also being felt keenly in China, whose exports to the US fell sharply in April. Chinese outbound shipments to the US stood at $33 billion last month — a whopping 21% decline from the $41.8 billion recorded in April 2024, according to a CNN calculation. Related article Inside Trump’s negotiating strategy with China Steep US tariffs have also taken a heavy toll on China’s manufacturing sector. Chinese factory activity contracted at its fastest pace in 16 months in April, adding urgency to Beijing’s efforts to roll out fresh economic stimulus. The news that Bessent and Greer would meet their Chinese counterparts in Geneva raised hopes of a detente between the two nations. The US and China are the world’s largest and second-largest economies, respectively, bigger than even the next 20 economies put together, according to World Bank data. Trump also told a conservative radio host on Wednesday that he would raise the case of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai “as part of the negotiation.” Lai, a pugnacious former publisher whose now-shuttered tabloid Apple Daily was a regular thorn in Beijing’s side, is in the midst of a national security trial that could send him to prison for life. CCTV did not say whether Lai featured in the talks. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNN’s Fred He, Nectar Gan, David Goldman and Nathaniel Meyersohn contributed to this report.
  • Oil prices might not recover soon. Here’s what that means for Saudi Arabia’s ambitious transformation plans Project renderings for NEOM, a futuristic city currently under construction in Saudi Arabia, are seen in the window of the NEOM pop-up store on the closing day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2023. Oil markets have slumped in recent weeks over fears of a trade war between the US and China and a surprise decision by OPEC+ countries to increase output in May. That could spell trouble for some oil-dependent Middle Eastern economies. On April 8, oil futures slid to a four-year low as investors priced in the possibility of a recession, driven tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Although prices have risen slightly since then, a bigger recovery may not happen soon. Goldman Sachs said on April 13 that it expects oil prices to decline through 2025 and 2026, with Brent crude averaging $63 a barrel for the rest of the year, and even lower next year. The next day, JP Morgan slashed its oil price forecasts to $66 for Brent in 2025, and a target of $58 for 2026. Lower oil prices are “bad news” for oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), says Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He adds that Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain will feel the most pain, with countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait less affected. Of all Middle Eastern economies, Saudi Arabia’s is the “most vulnerable” to low oil prices, James Swanston, Middle East and North Africa Senior Economist at Capital Economics, told CNN. The country is the world’s top oil exporter. The commodity accounted for 60% of government revenue in 2024, with crude oil and natural gas accounting for more than 20% of the country’s GDP over the same period. A per barrel price of above $100 is required for the country to balance its budget, Swanston said. Callen, who is the former International Monetary Fund chief to Saudi Arabia, estimates that with oil at $60 a barrel, Saudi Arabia’s fiscal deficit would be $62 billion, more than double the $27 billion estimated in its annual budget. A satellite view of construction progress at the western portion of NEOM, in Saudi Arabia, in February 2023. An oil-funded transformation Across the region, governments are utilizing oil revenues to diversify their economies. In Saudi Arabia, several initiatives dubbed “giga-projects” are key to the country’s Vision 2030 plan. That includes the futuristic city of NEOM, intended to be a hub for everything from manufacturing to media. The first phase will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, according to its crown prince. Other initiatives include the development of luxury tourism destinations along the country’s Red Sea coast, and Qiddiya, an entertainment city on the outskirts of Riyadh. Since 2016, $1.3 trillion in real estate and infrastructure projects have been unveiled, according to Knight Frank’s Saudi Arabia Giga Projects Report. Experts say that some giga-projects may now face delays, if the country cuts back its capital expenditure. Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is behind Neom and the Red Sea tourism plans, did not respond to a CNN email. Infrastructure needed for major international events may get priority. The country plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, the 2030 World Expo, and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. A photographer takes pictures of an oil field in Saudi Arabia, during a tour for journalists, in June 2021. Tensions within OPEC In recent years, Saudi-led OPEC has limited output to boost oil prices, holding Brent crude oil to largely $70 to $90 per barrel. But there have been tensions within the membership and wider OPEC+ group, with countries like Kazakhstan and Iraq exceeding their production quotas — and the issues don’t appear to be resolved. The organization’s April 3 output-increase announcement may have been intended to punish overproducers, experts say. In mid-April, OPEC released a plan to compensate for overproduction. But last week, Kazakhstan’s energy minister told Reuters that national interests would take priority over those of OPEC+. His comments drove a decline in prices, and he later issued a statement saying the country is committed to work with the group. The continued flouting of production quotas could keep oil prices sagging, even after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China. Lower oil prices could mean that Saudi Arabia’s diversification away from oil takes longer than planned, says Swanston. Callen says that Saudi is still in an “enviably strong” fiscal position with relatively low public debt levels. The Kingdom can deal with lower oil prices by cutting back spending and borrowing more, he adds. “Not ideal for Saudi, but very manageable.” Swanston says that Saudi Arabia has some of the lowest oil production costs in the world, and that the country may be able to withstand price levels that those with higher costs cannot. “Their cost of production is minuscule,” says Swanston. “They can weather lower prices.”
  • S&P 500 loses $5 trillion in two days in Trump tariff selloff Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Global stock markets extended their recent rout on Friday, with S&P 500 companies wiping out $5 trillion in stock market value since U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on Wednesday, while investors fled to the safety of government bonds. The Nasdaq confirmed it was in a bear market, ending more than 20% below its record high close, while oil prices and other commodities plunged. That $5-trillion loss marked a record two-day decline for the S&P 500 benchmark, exceeding a two-day loss of $3.3 trillion in March 2020 when the pandemic ripped across global markets, according to LSEG data compiled by Reuters. Responding to Trump's tariffs, China on Friday said it would impose additional levies of 34% on American goods, confirming investor fears that a full-blown global trade war is under way and that the global economy may be at risk of a recession. Trump slapped a 10% tariff on most U.S. imports and much higher levies on dozens of countries, erecting the steepest trade barriers in more than 100 years. "It's sort of the worst fears of where the tariff program was headed," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey. "For those investors who were sure it was just a negotiation - while that still may be true at some point - it's getting awfully deeper into the detail and more dangerous for companies." S&P 500 companies suffered their biggest one-day loss in value since the emerging coronavirus pandemic sent global markets into a tailspin on March 16, 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen 22.7% from its December 16 record close as investors fled riskier assets on the tariff worries. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and pan-European STOXX 600 index each confirmed they were in a correction. All three of the major U.S. stock indexes suffered their biggest weekly percentage losses since March 2020, and the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) jumped to 45.31, its highest closing level since April 2020. Companies with exposure to China fell across the board, with Apple (AAPL.O) dropping 7.3%. The chipmakers index (.SOX) sank 7.6%. Bank and energy shares dropped amid the recession fears. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 2,231.07 points, or 5.50%, to 38,314.86. The index confirmed a correction, finishing more than 10% below its record closing high from December 4. The S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 322.44 points, or 5.97%, to 5,074.08 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 962.82 points, or 5.82%, to 15,587.79. The pan-European STOXX index (.STOXX) closed 5.1% lower, its biggest daily loss since the COVID-19-fuelled selloff in 2020. The index fell nearly 12% from its March 3 all-time closing high, confirming it was in correction territory. [1/3]Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) fell 43.35 points, or 5.37%, to 764.29, and was set for its biggest weekly percentage drop since 2020. Oil prices plunged about 7% to settle at their lowest in over three years, after the tariff response from China, the world's top oil importer. Brent crude futures fell 6.5% to settle at $65.58. U.S. crude futures lost 7.4% to settle at $61.99. Data showing the U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in March did little to brighten the mood. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks at a business journalists' conference in Arlington, Virginia, that Trump's new tariffs are "larger than expected" and the economic fallout, including higher inflation and slower growth, likely will be as well. He also said the U.S. central bank does not have a prediction of a downturn in its outlook but he recognized private-sector forecasters are shifting on that front. Earlier, investment bank JP Morgan said it was forecasting a 60% chance of the global economy entering a recession by year-end, up from 40% previously. "I think (Powell's) comments will be disappointing for those who believe that the Fed is going to step in anytime soon," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. The U.S. dollar recovered against the euro and yen, with Powell signalling a cautious tone on future easing. The dollar index was last up 0.7% on Friday after its biggest fall since November 2022 on Thursday. The euro was last down 0.69% at $1.10976, after jumping 1.8% - its biggest daily rise since November 2022 - on Thursday. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.58% to 146.9. After years of huge flows into U.S. stocks and a booming American economy, investors are grappling with where to put their cash. That helped drive a powerful rush towards government bond markets. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell 12.2 basis points to 3.933% after falling to a six-month low of 3.86%. Yields move inversely to prices. The German 10-year bond yield , the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, fell as much as 17 bps during the day. Money market futures were pricing in cumulative rate cuts of 110 basis points from the Fed by the end of this year, compared with about 75 bps a week earlier. Traders increased their bets on Bank of England and European Central Bank reductions too. "A lot of investors I've talked to have just said in this kind of environment, let's go to cash and just wait it out," Meckler said. Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; additional reporting by Harry Robertson in London, Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Stephen Culp in New York, and Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Hugh Lawson, Peter Graff, Alison Williams, Chizu Nomiyama and Rod Nickel
  • The US economy added 228,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate ticked up Economists expected the US to add 130,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate to increase to 4.2%. The US economy added a stronger-than-expected 228,000 jobs in March, a significant increase from February’s revised gains of 117,000, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.2% from 4.1%. Economists were expecting job growth to slow to 130,000 in March and for the unemployment rate to tick up to 4.2%, according to FactSet. March’s report marks another solid month of job gains and a continuation of a historic growth of the labor market. The US has now added jobs for 51 months in a row, marking the second-longest expansion on record, BLS data shows. Whether that continues, however, remains to be seen. Recent economic data has indicated that uncertainty and layoffs are on the rise amid some monumental policy shifts from the Trump administration, including large-scale federal layoffs, funding cutbacks, mass deportations, and tariffs. One of the biggest potential shocks came just this week when Trump imposed a colossal set of new tariffs on America’s trading partners. While the ripple effects from tariffs and immigration-related activities could take longer to show up in the data, the federal workforce reductions have already started appearing. The sector has posted job losses for two consecutive months, dropping 11,000 jobs in February and 1,000 jobs in March, BLS data shows. In February, the sector posted a loss of 11,000 jobs. But for now, the labor market remains solid and fairly healthy.

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