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Tysons AI startup raises $10M in seed funding

Tysons pWin., which developed an AI proposals writing tool, has raised $10 million in a round.

MicroStrategy co-founder Sanju Bansal, members of the Blue Delta Capital Partners team and “other industry leaders” led the round, according to a Monday news release.

The startup developed its generative AI tool in partnership with Shipley Associates, a business development training and consulting company based in Utah. said in a news release its product can improve win rates by up to 20%.

“pWin.ai simplifies RFI and RFP response generation, empowering businesses and government contractors at the federal, state and local level to increase both bid volume and win rates,” pWin.ai co-founder and CEO Vishwas Lele said in a statement. “What sets our enterprise-grade SaaS products apart is our relentless focus on writing quality.”

pWin.ai was founded in 2024. The startup’s clients include large contractors like Parsons and Astrion as well as small and mid-sized companies like CRL Technologies and Applied Information Services. Its tool operates in Azure Commercial and Azure Government environments.

“For us, it has proven to be not just another software product but a strategy amplifier that frees up the team to surface insight faster and deliver on our big growth goals,” Holly Losh Trombly, corporate vice president of proposals at Astrion, said in a statement.

Trump’s promised steel and aluminum tariffs go into effect

SUMMARY:

  • hiked on to 50%.
  • Move expected to impact automakers and home builders.
  • In speech, president said tariff increases would ‘further secure’ U.S. steel industry

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump hiked nearly all of his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a punishing 50% on Wednesday in a move that’s set to hammer businesses from automakers to home builders, and likely push up prices for consumers even further.

Foreign-made steel and aluminum is used in household products like soup cans and paper clips, as well as big-ticket items like a stainless-steel refrigerators and cars. Economists warn that such heightened levies could significantly squeeze the wallets of both companies and shoppers alike. But Trump argues that his latest import taxes are necessary to protect U.S. industries.

The 50% tariffs went into effect just after the clock struck midnight on Wednesday. The two metals had previously faced 25% tariffs worldwide since mid-March, when Trump’s order to remove steel exemptions and raise aluminum’s levy from his previously-imposed 2018 import taxes went into effect.

Steel and aluminum from the U.K. is the exception. British imports of these metals are still levied at 25%, per a proclamation issued by Trump on Tuesday afternoon, which pointed to a recent trade deal reached between the two countries.

Here’s what else we know.

Why is Trump raising these tariffs?

Trump says it’s all about protecting U.S. industries. He reiterated that argument on Friday, when he first announced the 50% tariff on imported steel during a visit with steelworkers in Pennsylvania, where he also discussed a “planned partnership” between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

In his speech at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in suburban Pittsburgh, Trump said that the tariff hike would “further secure the steel industry in the U.S.” Shortly after, he took the same tone when sharing plans to also raise tariffs on imported aluminum.

In Tuesday’s proclamation, Trump also said that the higher tariffs would ensure that imported steel and aluminum would “not threaten to impair the national security.”

“In my judgment, the increased tariffs will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States,” he said in the proclamation.

How is the industry responding?

While some analysts have credited the tariffs Trump imposed during his first term with strengthening domestic production of steel and aluminum, many others have warned that stark new levies can make it difficult for the industry to adjust.

Some organizations representing metal workers also note that tariffs aren’t the only solution needed to boost U.S. manufacturing.

“While tariffs, used strategically, serve as a valuable tool in balancing the scales, it’s essential that we also pursue wider reforms of our global system,” David McCall, international president of the United Steelworkers union said in a statement, noting that work must be done “in collaboration with trusted allies” like Canada — the top exporter of steel and aluminum to the U.S. — to help “contain the bad actors.”

Matt Meenan, vice president of external affairs at the Aluminum Association, added that the trade group “appreciates President Trump’s continued focus on strengthening the U.S. aluminum industry,” but that “tariffs alone will not increase U.S. primary aluminum production.”

“We also need consistent, predictable trade and tariff policy to plan for current and future investment,” Meenan said.

Meanwhile, the American Primary Aluminum Association, which advocates for stronger trade enforcement, applauded Trump’s latest tariff increase on foreign aluminum.

“For decades, subsidized foreign producers have hollowed out domestic aluminum manufacturing,” APAA President Mark Duffy said in a statement, calling Trump a “strong leader who is fighting to rebuild domestic manufacturing and protect thousands of American aluminum jobs.”

What kinds of products could be impacted by heightened steel and aluminum tariffs?

A range of businesses that rely on foreign-made steel and aluminum have already begun feeling the impacts of Trump’s previously-imposed levies. But the latest anticipated hikes could drive up costs even more.

Steel and aluminum are used in a range of products like washing machines, consumer electronics and cars. Much of the auto industry relies on a global supply chain. And even if you aren’t in the market to buy a new vehicle, repairs could involve parts that use imports of either metal, driving up overall maintenance and ownership costs.

Rick Gagliano, president and CEO of AccuTec, a Verona, Virginia-based manufacturer of specialty, medical and professional cutting blades, lamented Wednesday morning that the increase in will force the company to raise its prices for the second time this year.

“100% of our material cost is steel, and if somebody increases the cost … we have no choice but to pass that on,” Gagliano said Monday.

AccuTec requires a high purity steel for its products which, according to Gagliano, U.S. mills don’t want to make. “We have to go to Europe and Japan,” he said.

Even if there was a U.S. mill willing to make the quality steel AccuTec needs, Gagliano said U.S. mills have also announced price increases. “So, there is no relief for us even if there was a viable U.S. option,” he wrote in an email Wednesday.

To weather the storm, AccuTec has put all nonessential spending on hold and has reduced worker hours. The company has 200 employees in Virginia and another 200 in Mexico. “It’s a killer,” Gagliano said. “It gives European and Asian companies a competitive advantage because they don’t have a 25 or 50% tariff on the steel that they use.”

In the grocery aisle, steel and aluminum are ubiquitous in the packaging for many foods, including canned tuna, soup and nuts. Experts warn that hiking import taxes on these materials could led to higher grocery prices overall, further straining consumers wallets.

The aluminum and metal tariffs also carry wider implications for construction and transportation as a whole, as many key building parts and materials are made with these metals. Economists further warn of spillover impacts. Even if a product isn’t directly packaged in steel or aluminum, there could be higher costs to build the shelf it’s sold on, for example, or truck used to transport it to the store. And all of that could trickle down to the consumer down the road.

If foreign competition becomes “priced out” due to these new tariffs, U.S. steel and aluminum producers may also find room to raise their own prices. As a result, even companies that don’t buy these foreign metals could end up paying more.

Steel prices have already climbed 16% since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the government’s Producer Price Index. And as of March 2025, steel cost $984 a metric ton in the U.S., significantly higher than than in Europe ($690) or China ($392), per the U.S. Commerce Department.

Why is the UK excluded from the 50% rates?

As part of trade deal reached on May 8, the U.K. said that the U.S. had agreed to exempt the country from its then-universal 25% duties, which would allow British steel and aluminum to come into the U.S. duty-free. That has yet to happen. But in his proclamation issued Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that it was “necessary and appropriate” to implement the deal.

The duty on British steel and aluminum will now stay at 25% instead of zero. But that rate could go up starting on July 9 if the U.S. government determines that Britain has not held up its end of the bargain, the details of which remain unclear.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that he is confident a trade deal exempting the U.K. from U.S. metals tariffs entirely will be in force before Trump’s July 9 deadline.

“We are the only country in the world that isn’t paying the 50% tax on steel and that will be coming down,” Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Wednesday. “We are working on it to bring it down to zero, that is going to happen.”

Gareth Stace, head of the industry body U.K. Steel, added that Trump’s decision to keep tariffs on British steel at 25% was a “welcome pause” but warned that continuing uncertainty was making American customers “dubious over whether they should even risk making U.K. orders.”

Other countries may also seek reprieve — or retaliation.

Late Tuesday, Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard said that doubling the tariff rate on imported steel and aluminum “it is unfair and unsustainable” because it will damage both countries’ economies. Ebrard added that he will be in Washington on Friday to meet with top U.S. officials and plans to present Mexico’s arguments “to be excluded from this measure, because it does not make sense.”

Meanwhile, the European Union has outlined countermeasures in response to levies imposed on aluminum and steel earlier in the year. The 27-nation bloc later delayed those actions until July 14 in efforts to ease negotiations, but recently said that was preparing a list of measures to enact if a trade deal with the U.S. crumbles.

Virginia Business Associate Editor Beth JoJack contributed to this story.

Wall Street’s rally slows following discouraging updates on economy

SUMMARY:

  • U.S. climbed slightly ahead of new .
  • EU and U.S. trade officials meet in Paris for tariff negotiations.
  • shares jumped 2.5% after Fed lifted 2018 restrictions.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s big rally is easing off the accelerator on Wednesday following some potentially discouraging updates on the U.S. economy.

The was edging up by 0.1% in morning trading after it had rallied back within 2.8% of its all-time high the prior day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 33 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the composite was 0.1% higher.

The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields fell following a pair of weaker-than-expected reports on the economy. One said that U.S. retailers, finance companies and other businesses in the services industries saw activity contract last month, when economists were expecting to see growth. Businesses told the Institute for Supply Management in its survey that all the uncertainty created by is making it difficult for them to forecast and plan.

A second report, meanwhile, suggested U.S. employers outside of the government hired far fewer workers last month than economists expected. The report from ADP said private employers hired just 37,000 more workers than they fired, down from the prior month’s 60,000.

That could bode ill for Friday’s more comprehensive coming from the U.S. Labor Department, which is one of Wall Street’s most anticipated data releases each month. So far, the U.S. job market has remained remarkably resilient despite years of high and now the threat of President Donald Trump’s high tariffs. But weakness there could undermine the rest of the economy.

To be sure, ADP’s report historically has not been a perfect predictor of what the U.S. Labor Department’s report will say.

“Whether this report is accurate or not, traders and investors will read today’s number as a dark result for trading today,” according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “This may be the tip of an iceberg, but it also could be a false start.”

Following the reports, traders built up expectations that the Federal Reserve will need to cut interest rates later this year in order to prop up the economy, which in turn caused the fall for Treasury yields. The weaker-than-expected ADP report also pushed Trump to call on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to deliver cuts to rates more quickly.

“‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!”

The Fed has yet to cut interest rates this year after slashing them through the end of last year. Part of the reason is that the Fed wants to see how much Trump’s tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation. While lower interest rates could boost the economy, they could also give inflation more fuel.

Longer-term Treasury yields have also been rising in recent weeks because of reasons outside the Fed’s control. Investors have been demanding the U.S. government pay more in interest to borrow because of worries about whether it’s set to add trillions of dollars to its debt through tax cuts under discussion on Capitol Hill.

On Wall Street, Wells Fargo rose 1.7% after the on Tuesday lifted restrictions placed on the bank in 2018 for having a toxic sales and banking culture. Wells Fargo has spent the better part of a decade trying to restore its image with the public and convince policymakers that it had changed its ways.

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company that Delta Air Lines has sued for a technology outage last summer, fell 5.3% despite reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell just short of Wall Street’s target, as did its forecast for revenue in the current quarter.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia as the wait continued for more updates on trade talks that could convince Trump to lower his tariffs. Hopes for such deals have been a big reason U.S. stocks have roared back after falling roughly 20% below their record two months ago.

But nothing is assured, and Trump early Wednesday said of China’s leader Xi Jinping, “I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!”

The European Union’s top trade negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, met Wednesday with his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

South Korea’s Kospi led Wednesday’s global market gains and jumped 2.7% after the liberal opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected president.

Lee’s victory caps months of political turmoil triggered by the stunning but brief imposition of martial law by the now-ousted conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol. Top priorities will include government spending and trade negotiations with the United States.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.38% from 4.46% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks traders’ expectations for what the Fed will do with overnight interest rates, eased to 3.89% from 3.96%.

RTX subsidiary wins $536M Navy contract

The has awarded , a subsidiary of -based aerospace and contractor , a $536 million contract for the SPY-6 family of radars.

RTX said in a news release Tuesday that the contract is a follow-on to a previously awarded integration and production support contract announced in 2018. The new contract includes upgrading Flight IIA destroyers, part of the Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers, with the SPY-6(V)4 variant.

The SPY-6 family of radars performs air and missile defense on seven classes of ships, according to RTX. Some of the advantages over legacy radars, according to RTX, include greater detection range, increased sensitivity and more accurate discrimination.

The SPY-6(V)4 variant can simultaneously defend against ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-surface and anti-air threats, jamming/clutter and electronic warfare.

Under the contract, Raytheon will provide support through training, engineering services, ship installation, integration and testing and software upgrades. Work is expected to be completed by May 2026.

“SPY-6 is the most advanced in the U.S. naval fleet, providing ships a new level of defense against evolving threats,” Barbara Borgonovi, president of naval power at Raytheon, said in a statement. “This contract highlights the essential role of this in supporting the U.S. Navy’s technology roadmap for several decades to come.”

SPY-6 is installed on two new U.S. Navy ships, according to RTX, with three additional ships slated for installation and undergoing various stages of testing later this year. According to a news release, over the next decade, SPY-6 is expected to be deployed on more than 60 U.S. Navy ships.

RTX has more than 185,000 employees globally and reported more than $80.73 billion in 2024 sales. The contractor is Virginia’s second-highest ranked company on the 2025 Fortune 500.

Meta’s nuclear deal signals AI’s growing energy needs

SUMMARY:

Meta’s deal to help revive an Illinois nuclear power plant was one way of signaling that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is preparing for a future built with artificial intelligence.

Meta’s 20-year deal with Constellation Energy follows similar maneuvers from Amazon, Google and Microsoft, but it will take years before can meet the ‘s insatiable demand for new sources of electricity.

In October 2024, Amazon and Dominion Energy Virginia entered into an agreement to explore potential development of small modular nuclear reactors at North Anna Power Plant in Louisa County. Amazon also announced then it had signed three agreements to support SMR development, including an agreement in the state of Washington with Energy Northwest to develop four advanced SMRs. In March 2024, Amazon acquired a nuclear-powered data center campus in Pennsylvania from Talen Energy.

Meanwhile, Google announced last October that it had reached an agreement with Kairos Power to develop and purchase 500 megawatts of power from six to seven SMRs, planned to come online between 2030 and 2035. And in September 2024, Microsoft forged a deal with Constellation Energy to offset power consumption by its data centers by reviving a portion of the Three Mile Island power plant, the Pennsylvania facility that in 1979 experienced a partial nuclear meltdown, the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history.

AI uses vast amounts of energy, much of which comes from burning fossil fuels, which causes climate change. The unexpected popularity of generative AI products over the past few years has disrupted many tech companies’ carefully laid plans to supply their with energy sources that don’t contribute to climate change.

Even as Meta anticipates more nuclear in the future, its more immediate plans rely on natural gas. Entergy, one of the nation’s largest utility providers, has been fast-tracking plans to build gas-fired power plants in Louisiana to prepare for a massive Meta data center complex.

Is the U.S. ready for nuclear-powered AI?
France has touted its ample nuclear power — which produces about 75% of the nation’s electricity, the highest level in the world — as a key element in its pitch to be an AI leader. Hosting an AI summit in Paris earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron cited President Donald Trump’s “drill baby drill” slogan and offered another: “Here there’s no need to drill, it’s just plug baby plug.”

In the U.S., however, most of the electricity consumed by data centers relies on fossil fuels — burning natural gas and sometimes coal — according to an April report from the International Energy Agency. As AI demand rises, the main source of new supply over the coming years is expected to be from gas-fired plants, a cheap and reliable source of power but one that produces planet-warming emissions.

Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind account for about 24% of data center power in the U.S., while nuclear comprises about 15%, according to the IEA. It will take years before enough climate-friendlier power sources, including nuclear, could start slowing the expansion of fossil fuel power generation.

A report released by the U.S. Department of Energy late last year estimated that the electricity needed for data centers in the U.S. tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028 when it could consume up to 12% of the nation’s electricity.

Why does AI need so much energy?
It takes a lot of computing power to make an AI chatbot and the systems they’re built on, such as Meta’s Llama. It starts with a process called training or pretraining — the “P” in ChatGPT — that involves AI systems “learning” from the patterns of huge troves of data. To do that, they need specialized computer chips — usually graphics processors, or GPUs — that can run many calculations at a time on a network of devices in communication with each other.

Once trained, a generative AI tool still needs electricity to do the work, such as when you ask a chatbot to compose a document or generate an image. That process is called inferencing. A trained AI model must take in new information and make inferences from what it already knows to produce a response.

All of that computing takes a lot of electricity and generates a lot of heat. To keep it cool enough to work properly, data centers need air conditioning. That can require even more electricity, so most data center operators look for other cooling techniques that usually involve pumping in water.

Tysons Corner Center unveils plans for $100M redevelopment

Major changes are on the horizon for — the largest shopping mall in the Washington, D.C., area.

In a May presentation to investors, California-based investment trust , the owner of the 1.8 million-square-foot mall in , announced plans for a “strategic redevelopment” of the mall to drive net operating income growth. The company calls for “reimagining the shopper experience” at the west end of the mall, from the Bloomingdale’s to the Macy’s, into “a vibrant and walkable , dining and entertainment district, anchored by upscale dining and a luxury market.”

Macerich says it is in the process of investing $100 million in enhancements to the mall, including $66 million in retailer investments for store upgrades and new designs, including a redesigned Apple store. Apple’s first retail store completed a relocation and at Corner Center in 2023.

In addition to the retailer investments, Macerich says it is adding $45 million in mall improvements.

However, the upgrades may result in the removal or relocation of the . A rendering in the investor presentation shows the exterior of the American Girl store’s existing space in the mall being labeled as “Before.” A rendering labeled “West End Future” shows the exact same space, redeveloped with new dining options, but with the removal of the American Girl store. In its place, the word “Market” appears where the American Girl logo used to be.

American Girl opened the two-level, 23,000-foot-store at the mall in 2011. The Tysons location is one of seven American Girl stores in the country.

A Macerich spokesperson declined to provide additional information beyond what was already shared in the investor presentation. American Girl did not return requests for comment.

Tysons Corner Center opened in 1968 and today has more than 300 retailers. Macerich has owned it since 2005.

Macerich reported a net loss of $197 million in 2024, of which $194 million was attributable to the company. This was an improvement the previous year’s net loss of $278 million, of which $274 million was attributable to the company.

Dollar General hits record $10.44B in quarterly sales

SUMMARY:

  • sets quarterly sales record at $10.44 billion
  • Sales rose 5% year-over-year, beating Wall Street forecasts
  • Company upgrades annual profit and sales outlook
  • Economic slowdown and budget-conscious consumers drive growth

Dollar General set a quarterly sales record of $10.44 billion and upgraded its annual profit and sales outlook as Americans tighten their budgets and spend more at bargain stores and off-price retailers amid .

The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald ‘s trade wars dented spending by businesses. slowed sharply.

Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, stands out because it is raising its expectations for the year while most traditional retailers, like Macy’s, Target or Best Buy, are dialing back profit and or sales projections, citing anxious customers or the impact of .

For the period ended May 2, Dollar General’s sales climbed 5% to $10.44 billion from $9.91 billion. That’s better than the $10.29 billion that Wall Street was expecting, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, increased 2.4%.

Customer traffic dipped 0.3%, but the average transaction amount rose 2.7%.

Shares jumped 9% before the opening bell Tuesday and shares of Chesapeake-based rival , which reports its quarterly performance Wednesday, rose 4%. The discount retailer is set to sell its Family Dollar chain for $1 billion this quarter to two private equity firms, Dollar Tree announced in March. Family Dollar will remain headquartered in Chesapeake and will be led by CEO and Chairman Duncan MacNaughton, who previously was president and chief operating officer of Family Dollar from 2017 to 2019.

Dollar General earned $391.9 million, or $1.78 per share, in the quarter, blowing past the $1.47 per share that Wall Street had expected, as well as the $363.3 million profit it recorded during the same period last year.

Dollar General said that even though it topped its own expectations, there is a lot of uncertainty about how tariffs will impact its business and its customers for the remainder of the year.

People are down, or visiting bargain chains, as they seek to extend their spending, but lower-income Americans are much more vulnerable.

“While the macro backdrop continues to be broadly unhelpful, with core lower income consumers still facing considerable pressure on their finances, this was mitigated during the quarter by consumers gently stocking up on things in anticipation of tariffs,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement.

The company is now projecting 2025 earnings in a range of about $5.20 to $5.80 per share. Its prior earnings forecast was for approximately $5.10 to $5.80 per share.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for earnings of $5.61 per share.

Sales are expected to climb approximately 3.7% to 4.7%. Dollar General previously predicted sales growth of about 3.4% to 4.4%. Same-store sales growth is now expected to be approximately 1.5% to 2.5% up from a prior outlook for about 1.2% to 2.2% growth.

Virginians wager $609M on sports in April

Virginians bet more than $609.71 million on sports in April, 8.2% more than they bet in April 2024, according to data released Friday.

Virginia bettors won more than $546.92 million in April.

About $603.71 million of April’s gross sports revenues came from mobile operators, with the remaining roughly $6 million coming from casino activity. Virginia currently has three : the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Rivers Casino Portsmouth and Caesars Virginia in Danville. In April, the state’s casinos reported a total of almost $78.76 million in adjusted gaming revenues.

Casino development continues in the commonwealth. Construction on the $750 million Norfolk casino began in February. In Petersburg, the $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia held a groundbreaking in March. Rivers Casino Portsmouth and Rush Street Gaming have plans to begin building a $65 million hotel in Portsmouth this summer.

April’s sports handle was an almost 12% decrease from the $689.66 million that Virginians bet in March.

“Virginia’s handle dropped to just over $609 million in April, which is a typical post-March Madness slowdown. But the real story is in [adjusted gross] revenue — sportsbooks posted a 24.5% increase, despite the dip in volume,” Christopher Boan, an analyst with vendor BetVirginia.com, said in a statement.

May and June are typically quieter betting periods, Boan added.

The licensed operators included in April’s sports revenue reporting were:

  • Betfair Interactive US (FanDuel) in partnership with the Washington Commanders
  • Crown Virginia Gaming (Draft Kings)
  • BetMGM
  • Rivers Portsmouth Gaming (Rivers Casino Portsmouth)
  • Caesars Virginia
  • Bally’s Interactive
  • Penn Sports Interactive
  • Colonial Downs Group
  • HR Bristol
  • Hillside (Virginia)
  • DC Sports Facilities Entertainment
  • Betr VA
  • PlayLive Virginia
  • Sporttrade Virginia

Virginia places a 15% tax on sports betting activity based on each permit holder’s adjusted gross revenue (total wagers minus total winnings and other authorized deductions). With 11 operators reporting net positive AGR for April, state taxes for the month totaled more than $8.5 million.

Of that, 97.5% — about $8.3 million — will be deposited in the state’s general fund. The remaining approximately $212,900 will go to the Problem Treatment and Support Fund Allocation, which the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services administers.

Wall Street rises as most financial markets worldwide hold steady

SUMMARY:

  • gains 0.6% and nears its all-time high

  • adds 170 points; up 1%

  • Global markets stay steady amid trade policy uncertainty

  • Investors await further clarity on ‘s tariffs

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. are gaining ground on Tuesday, and financial markets worldwide are holding relatively steady as the wait continues for more updates on President Donald Trump’s tariffs and how much they’re affecting the economy.

The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in afternoon , coming off a modest gain that added to its stellar May. It’s back within 3% of its all-time high set earlier this year after falling roughly 20% below two months ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:40 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

 jumped 14.3% for one of the market’s bigger gains after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the start of the year than analysts expected. The discount retailer also raised its forecasts for profit and revenue over the full year, though it cautioned that “uncertainty exists for the remainder of the year” because of tariffs and how they might affect its customers.

Many other companies have cut or withdrawn their financial forecasts for the upcoming year because of the uncertainty caused by Trump’s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday that it’s forecasting 1.6% growth for the U.S. economy this year, down from 2.8% last year.

But while Trump’s tariffs have certainly made U.S. households feel more pessimistic about where the economy and are heading, reports have suggested only a moderate hit so far. Manufacturers have begun to feel the effects, but the overall job market has remained solid overall with layoffs remaining relatively low, and inflation has not taken off.

A report on Tuesday morning showed U.S. employers were advertising more job openings at the end of April than economists expected, another signal that the labor market remains solid. It sets the stage for a more important report coming on Friday, which will show how much hiring and firing U.S. employers did in May.

On the trade front, hopes are still high on Wall Street that Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will ultimately lower tariffs, particularly with the world’s second-largest economy. The U.S. side said President Donald Trump was expecting to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that they had no information on that.

On Wall Street,  rose 0.7% after signing a 20-year deal to provide Platforms with power from its nuclear plant in Clinton, Illinois.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.47% from 4.46% late Monday, though it had been lower earlier in the morning before the stronger-than-expected report on U.S. jobs openings.

It’s a cooldown following a sharp rise for yields over the last two months. Yields had been climbing in part on worries about how the U.S. government may be set to add trillions of dollars to its debt through tax cuts.

Besides making it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money, higher Treasury yields can also discourage investors from paying high prices for stocks and other investments.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest moves across Europe and Asia.

Hong Kong was an exception, where the Hang Seng jumped 1.5%. That came despite a report showing Chinese manufacturing activity slowed in May.

South Korean markets were closed for a snap presidential election triggered by the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who now faces an explosive trial on rebellion charges over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Office sublease supply shrinks in major NOVA markets

SUMMARY:

  • supply in ‘s major office hubs has declined by nearly 1.5 million square feet since its 2023 peak
  • The decline reflects broader state trends
  • Companies are now reclaiming previously subleased space or opting for cheaper sublease options
  • Sublease rents may rise as supply shrinks

The sublease supply for Northern Virginia’s top office hubs is shrinking as the market has begun to stabilize after the pandemic, according to a May 22 report from .

The report shows that sublease availability in the , and Reston- submarkets rose during the pandemic and reached a peak in the second quarter of 2023, with more than 4.2 million square feet of space available. Since then, however, the sublease supply has dipped by nearly 1.5 million square feet, with 2.69 million square feet available in the first quarter of the year and 2.75 million in the second quarter of this year.

Ryan Price, chief economist with , said that Avison Young’s report is similar to what is happening with the broader Northern Virginia market, as well as the entire state.

Citing data from Group, Price provided information showing that from the third quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2022, the state saw year-over-year increases in vacant sublease space from the previous year. The most drastic spike occurred in the second quarter of 2021, when the state experienced a 110.5% increase in available sublease space compared to the prior year. However, Price said that for the past four consecutive quarters, Virginia as a whole has seen a tightening of sublet availability compared to similar data from the previous year.

“As COVID was underway, we did see a big increase in downsizing footprint, downsizing of firms, which leads to an increase in sublease space as there were more people not working in the office,” Price said. “And so a lot of that space was freed up, you know, for sublease tenants. And we’ve seen a bit of a reversal in that regard, as RTO — return to office mandates — become more widespread. I think a lot of firms are looking at their space needs and kind of reclaiming some of that space that they had made available.”

Henry Murphy, an Avison Young market intelligence analyst, said the initial rise in sublease space was tied to financial uncertainty. During the pandemic and afterward, some businesses struggled to afford their current rents.

“You saw a lot of tenants just listing up a lot of their larger space on the sublease market,” Murphy said. “So, you saw the supply of it just continuing and continuing to rise. But then, it kind of started to hit a cap where you started to see some companies have returned to offices.”

A chart showing sublease availability in top markets. Image courtesy Avison Young

He noted that sublease space is offered at a discounted rent and that many companies, trying to shrink their footprint while still wanting to have office space, are opting to move into cheaper, subleased space until they have steadier financials. The pivot for many organizations into using subleased space has absorbed a significant portion of the supply.

On the other hand, he noted that some individuals and organizations have reached a point where, having achieved greater financial stability than they had a few years ago, they are now willing to make more long-term commitments through direct deals with landlords.

“[A direct deal] allows tenants to build out their own space to their own liking, rather than taking somebody else’s space that they had already built out,” Murphy said. “So you get a lot more customization with your own space through a direct deal because the landlord will work with you with a tenant improvement allowance to allow you to build out your own space, to make it your own, rather than just having to move in and deal with what was left with the previous tenants’ build-out.”

Murphy also said some spaces that were sitting on the sublease market that never acquired a tenant “came to term,” meaning that the rental agreement with the original tenant has come and passed. Now, these spaces are being listed as a direct deal through the landlord at a higher rent price than what was previously available when the space was on the sublease market.

Since the supply of sublease space is shrinking, Murphy expects that there will be a little bit more of a demand for it because some tenants will try to take advantage of what’s left on the market. He said rates for sublease markets have been relatively consistent the past few years, but as the supply shrinks, he anticipates the rents to climb a bit.

Rents down except for trophy properties

Avison Young reports that from the second quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2025, the trophy assets category was the only one in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, Tysons, and Reston-Herndon submarkets to see an increase in asking rents, driven primarily by a significant reduction in available supply and continued tenant preference for high-quality space.

Avison Young says that Class A spaces experienced a modest decline in rents, primarily due to stable supply levels and landlords adjusting pricing to remain competitive amid selective tenant demand. However, Class B and C properties saw notable rent declines despite reduced supply, which Avison Young attributes to ongoing challenges in leasing lower-tier space that remains less attractive to tenants and has largely remained vacant.

While Murphy said he can’t predict what the market will look like in the next few years, he does believe it is in a more stable place than it was a few years ago. He said the spike in available space from a few years ago showed how “volatile” things were, and the market now has seen a “basis reset.”

“Because even if some of these deals are just kind of expiring because they’ve been vacant and no tenant has taken up this space, it’s at least now coming back to direct deals,” Murphy said. “So it’s at least giving choice to landlords to make a decision. If it still remains vacant, then they can maybe decide to do something different with the building, whether that’s convert to a multifamily or renovate the space to try to make it more appealing to tenants. I think it brings more options and less volatility to the market than in the previous couple of quarters.”

Price said a decline in sublease activity usually points toward an increased demand for office space, but it’s hard to predict whether it is a good sign for the market at this point.

“I think it’s still a little early to tell,” Price said. “But I would say that when you just step back and look at, sort of the overall inventory picture that’s out there, the amount of space, the pipeline has really dried up — the new construction pipeline. So I think the overall inventory is likely tightening because of that. So we have less new space in the market, and so the existing space is getting occupied.”