Business

May 18 (Reuters) – Uber has ratcheted up its stake in Delivery Hero, becoming the German firm’s top shareholder, according to LSEG data.

Delivery Hero said on Monday its rival had bought additional shares and instruments in the company and now holds 19.5% of Delivery Hero’s issued capital.

This puts it ahead of Dutch technology investor Prosus’s previous 16.8% holding, according to the data.

“Delivery Hero welcomes Uber’s additional investment as a further endorsement of its platform and Everyday App strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Shares in Delivery Hero were up 4.6% at 1515 GMT after jumping as high as 7%.

Uber bought a 4.5% stake in Delivery Hero from Prosus in April, and activist investor Aspex Management raised its stake to about 15% in May.

(Reporting by Emanuele Berro, Editing by Rachel More)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected appeals from pharmaceutical companies that object to negotiating Medicare drug prices with the federal government.

The justices did not comment in leaving in place rulings from the federal appeals court in Philadelphia that dismissed the drug manufacturers’ claims.

The negotiation program was created as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which capped years of debate over whether the federal government should be allowed to haggle directly with pharmaceutical companies over the prices of drugs in Medicare.

The law required the government to negotiate prices for certain high-cost drugs in the federal insurance program for older adults on an annual basis, with the first deals going into effect in 2026.

Not a single Republican voted for the legislation, which was signed by Democratic President Joe Biden. Republicans have been harshly critical of aspects of the law, and Republican President Donald Trump has rolled back programs favoring alternative energy sources.

But the administration has embraced the authority to bring drugmakers to the negotiating table.

So far, the government has negotiated prices for 25 prescription drugs covered by Medicare, including the massively popular GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy. In January, the Trump administration announced drugs targeted for a third round of the program, which would bring the total number of drugs with lower prices for Medicare enrollees to 40.

Pharmaceutical companies have forcefully pushed back on the program, arguing policymakers wanting to lower costs should instead rein in insurers and third-party pharmacy benefit managers.

But in the absence of court intervention, stopping the program may require an act of Congress. The statute creating the program doesn’t specify an end date.

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Swenson reported from New York.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Commuters in New York City’s suburbs navigated a gauntlet of car, bus and subway routes to get to work Monday after a strike on the Long Island Rail Road that shut down the nation’s busiest commuter rail system entered its third day.

Unions representing rail workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which runs the railroad, negotiated for much of Sunday, wrapping their talks around 1 a.m., but failed to reach an agreement, despite pressure from the National Mediation Board and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. A spokesperson for union workers said negotiators returned to the bargaining table early Monday.

Katie Dolgow, who teaches first graders in Manhattan, said it had already taken her an hour just to travel from Long Island to Queens as more commuters turned to the region’s already notoriously gridlocked roads. But her big concern was coming home.

“I have to get my son at daycare by 5:30. It’s going to take me longer getting home. I’m a teacher, I’m going to have leave work at 1:30,” she said.

Picketers were out early.

“We’re just asking for a reasonable cost of living adjustment on our wages,” Byron Lee, a locomotive engineer, said outside Penn Station in midtown Manhattan. “People think that you don’t deserve it.”

The LIRR serves hundreds of thousands of commuters who live along a 118-mile-long (190-kilometer-long) land mass that includes Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and the Hamptons, a summertime playground for the rich and famous near its eastern tip. The railroad has long provided commuters relief from its rush-hour clogged highways.

Most of its riders live outside New York City in two counties populated by nearly three million people.

The railroad closed down and workers went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job for the first time in three decades.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union said in a statement Sunday that workers “are not asking for special treatment — they are simply fighting to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living in the New York region after years without a raise.”

The unions and the MTA have been negotiating a new contract since 2023, but talks have stalled over salaries and healthcare. The Trump administration got involved in September after unions asked for the appointment of a panel of experts, but they still couldn’t reach a deal.

At a news conference Sunday, Hochul said workers would lose every dollar they would gain with a new contract by remaining on strike for three days.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber also urged a fast resolution.

“We are headed in a positive direction but we have to get it finished,” Lieber told WABC-TV.

The first to be affected by the walkout — the LIRR’s first since a two-day strike in 1994 — were the many sports fans who wanted to see the Yankees and Mets battle or the Knicks’ playoff run at Madison Square Garden, which is located directly above the railroad’s Penn Station hub in Manhattan.

Federal law makes it extremely difficult for rail workers to walk out and even allows Congress to block a strike, but lawmakers have not intervened as they did with the nation’s freight railroads in 2022.

Would-be commuters were greeted by train departure boards that listed ghost trains marked “No Passengers” rather than upcoming trains listed by destination.

Essential workers among the roughly 250,000 weekday LIRR riders took buses into the city from six locations on Long Island starting at 4 a.m. Monday. The evening rush-hour commute runs from around 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Hochul, a Democrat, has blamed the Trump administration for cutting mediation short in September and pushing the unions toward a strike. Trump, a Republican, said on his Truth Social platform that he had nothing to do with it.

“No, Kathy, it’s your fault, and now looking over the facts, you should not have allowed this to happen,” Trump said.

Hochul urged companies and agencies that employ workers from Long Island to let them work from home whenever possible.

“It’s impossible to fully replace LIRR service. So effective Monday, I’m asking that regular commuters who can work from home, should. Please do so,” she said.

The MTA has said the unions’ initial demands to raise salaries would result in large fare increases and be disproportionate to other unionized workers’ pay.

The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and others, have said more substantial raises are warranted to help workers keep up with inflation and rising living costs. ___

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers Ted Shaffrey and Joseph Frederick in New York; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.

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NextEra Energy is seeking to acquire Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about $67 billion, creating a massive power company as the energy needs of artificial intelligence drive demand higher in the U.S.

It is one of the biggest proposed mergers so far this year and would create the world’s biggest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization, the companies said on Monday.

The combined company will serve approximately 10 million utility customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Dominion, based in Richmond, Virginia, helps to power hundreds of data centers across the state. It also provides regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina.

Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra owns Florida Power & Light Company, which provides electricity to about 12 million people across the state. In December NextEra and Google Cloud announced that they were expanding their existing partnership to build new data center campuses across the U.S.

The potential tie-up of the two companies comes at a time when consumers worried about escalating electric bills are pushing back against AI data centers. Some governors, attorneys general and others protesting rising electricity bills say cash-strapped residents are stuck in a broken system.

Officials and lawmakers in at least six states — including Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — are going to new lengths to try to block rate increases proposed by utilities. Some are pressing utilities to completely change their model for financing major system upgrades.

Dominion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy for each share of Dominion that they own. Dominion stockholders will continue to receive Dominion’s current quarterly dividend through closing, plus a one-time cash payment of $360 million at closing.

NextEra’s stockholders will own 74.5% of the combined business, while Dominion’s stockholders will own 25.5%.

NextEra CEO John Ketchum will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company..

“We are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever— not for the sake of size, but because scale translates into capital and operating efficiencies. It enables us to buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, which translates into more affordable electricity for our customers in the long run,” Ketchum said in a statement.

The combined company will have dual headquarters in Juno Beach, Florida, and Richmond, Virginia. It will also keep Dominion Energy South Carolina’s existing operational headquarters in Cayce, South Carolina.

The business will use NextEra’s name and trade under its “NEE” ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. Its board of directors will include 10 directors from NextEra and four from Dominion.

The deal, which was approved by both companies’ boards, is expected to close in 12 to 18 months. It still needs approval from NextEra and Dominion shareholders, as well as various regulatory approvals, including approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Shares of Dominion jumped more 9.61% in morning trading, while NextEra’s stock fell 5%.

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By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE, May 18 (Reuters) – Bonds from Tokyo to New York extended losses on Monday as rising energy prices from the ongoing Middle East war fanned inflation fears and stoked investor wagers on rate hikes from global central banks.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, jumped to their highest since February 2025 in early Asia trade at 4.6310%, having climbed more than 20 basis points last week.

The two-year yield touched a 14-month top of 4.1020%, while the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to a one-year high of 5.1590%.

The moves came on the back of a climb in oil prices on Monday, as efforts to end the Iran war appeared to have stalled following a drone strike at a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates.

“Fresh drone attacks on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant and Saudi territory, coupled with Trump’s ‘clock is ticking’ ultimatum and a planned Situation Room meeting on Tuesday, have sharply elevated the risk of renewed full-scale hostilities,” said analysts at OCBC.

More than two months into the Middle East war, investors are beginning to fret about the economic fallout from the conflict as inflationary pressures mount and what that would mean for the global interest rate outlook.

“The ‘higher for longer’ story is coming back, even if actual rate hikes are still not the base case,” said Charu Chanana, Saxo’s chief investment strategist.

Markets are now pricing in a more than 50% chance the Federal Reserve would raise rates by December, according to the CME FedWatch tool, while the European Central Bank is seen hiking as early as next month and the Bank of England about twice this year.

The move in U.S. Treasury yields spilled over to the broader market, with Germany’s bund futures and French OAT futures falling about 0.4% each in early trading.

In Japan, yields on the 30-year Japanese government bond (JGB) jumped 17 bps to their highest on record at 4.170% while the 10-year yield touched its highest since October 1996 at 2.800%.

The selloff in JGBs accelerated after Reuters reported that Tokyo will likely issue fresh debt as part of funding for a planned extra budget to cushion the economic blow from the Middle East war.

(Reporting by Rae Wee; additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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May 17 (Reuters) – Online fast-fashion platform Shein is acquiring Everlane from majority owner L Catterton in a deal valuing the U.S.-based apparel retailer at about $100 million, Puck News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Those with common stock in Everlane will not receive a payout, the report said. There was no information on whether preferred shareholders would receive cash or shares in Shein as part of the deal. 

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Everlane, Shein and L Catterton did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. 

Brands like Shein and Temu have disrupted the local retail landscape through aggressive pricing, strategic marketing, and using tax loopholes that initially gave them a competitive edge over local retailers.

Puck News reported in March that private equity firm L Catterton and Everlane Chief Executive Alfred Chang had been seeking an investor to address roughly $90 million in debt.

The private equity firm was willing to inject additional funds if a co-investor emerged, but was also open to a sale, according to the report. 

(Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, May 18 (Reuters) – Oil prices extended gains on Monday as efforts to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran appeared to have stalled, after a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates came under attack and as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to discuss military options on Iran.

Brent crude futures climbed $2.03, or 1.86%, to $111.29 a barrel by 0220 GMT, after touching $112 earlier, the highest since May 5.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $107.73 a barrel, up $2.31, or 2.19%, following a rise to $108.70, its highest level since April 30. The front-month June contract expires on Tuesday.

Both contracts gained more than 7% last week as hopes of a peace deal that would end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz dimmed. Last week’s talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping ended without an indication from the world’s top oil importer that it would help resolve the conflict.

“The longer the conflict with Iran persists, the greater the risk of protracted oil price scarring, which could keep interest rates higher for longer,” Prestige Economics’ Jason Schenker said in a note.

“This could also present persistent downside risks to growth.”

Drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia and rhetoric from the U.S. and Iran raised concerns of an escalation in the conflict.

Emirati officials said they were investigating the source of the strike on the Barakah nuclear power plant and that the UAE had the full right to respond to such “terrorist attacks.”

Saudi Arabia, which intercepted three drones that entered from Iraqi airspace, warned it would take the necessary operational measures to respond to any attempt to violate its sovereignty and security.

“These drone strikes are a pointed warning – renewed U.S. or Israeli strikes on Iran could trigger more proxy attacks on Gulf energy and critical infrastructure by Iran or its regional proxies,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

Trump is expected to meet top national security advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for military action regarding Iran, Axios reported.

Separately, in a move that could support oil prices, the Trump administration on Saturday allowed a sanctions waiver to lapse that had previously allowed countries including India to buy Russian seaborne oil after a month-long extension.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Chris Reese and Kate Mayberry)

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By Jiaxing Li

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) – The dollar firmed against most major currencies on Monday as fresh Middle East tensions lifted oil prices and a global bond selloff dented risk appetite, while yen weakness kept traders on alert for possible Japanese intervention.

The euro was last at $1.1609 and sterling fetched $1.3305, both down more than 0.1%.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar weakened 0.4% to $0.7121, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed at $0.5827.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was a touch firmer at 99.393.

Oil prices climbed on Monday, with Brent crude futures rising more than 1% to over $110 a barrel, after a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates came under attack and efforts to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran appeared to have stalled.

“It appears conditions for risk and bonds are deteriorating, and conditions for the dollar rally to extend this week are ripe,” analysts at Barclays wrote in a note.

Signs that the Strait of Hormuz will remain clogged for longer are also exerting upward pressure, with the dollar gaining 0.5% to 1% for every 10% rise in oil prices, they added.

A global bond rout also dented risk sentiment, showing little sign of recovery, with Treasury yields staying elevated amid fears that Middle East energy disruptions could fuel inflation.

The yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes and the two-year notes, which typically move in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, were last at 4.607% and 4.085%, respectively, near their highest in a year.

“Near term, USD may stay better bid on dips if yields remain elevated and markets continue to price a more hawkish Fed reaction function,” Christopher Wong, FX strategist at OCBC, said in a note.

The focus this week will turn to the Federal Open Market Committee’s minutes and U.S. flash Purchasing Managers’ Indexes, which could help clarify how much concern there is within the Fed over persisting inflation, and whether U.S. activity momentum is holding up under tighter financial conditions, he added.

Against the yen, the dollar traded at 158.84, up 0.04% from late U.S. levels, with renewed yen weakness putting investors on alert for possible intervention.

The offshore yuan traded at 6.8163 yuan per dollar ahead of Chinese activity data due later on Monday.

(Reporting by Jiaxing Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) – China’s economic growth lost steam in April as industrial output and retail sales growth sharply missed expectations as the Asian powerhouse grappled with higher energy costs from the Iran war and sluggish domestic demand.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday that factory output grew 4.1% from a year earlier last month, compared with a 5.7% rise in March and a Reuters poll forecast for 5.9% growth. It marked the slowest growth since July 2023.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose just 0.2% in April, cooling sharply from 1.7% in March and marking the weakest gain since December 2022. The figures were also well below forecast centred on a 2% increase.

Household consumption has remained fragile. Domestic car sales dropped 21.6% in April from a year earlier, marking the seventh straight month of decline, even as automakers ramped up efforts to expand in overseas market to offset weakness at home.

Adding to the gloom, fixed-asset investment contracted 1.6% in the first four months of 2026, compared with a 1.7% rise in the January-March period.

Economists pointed to a drop in the official construction purchasing managers’ index, and heavy rainfalls in parts of southern China as some of the factors dragging on investment growth.

The April figures offered early signs that China’s first-quarter momentum was already fading.

The economy expanded 5.0% in the first three months of the year, at the upper end of Beijing’s full-year target range of 4.5% to 5.0%. But analysts have warned that the recovery is running on uneven ground as industrial output continues to outstrip domestic demand.

While a protracted downturn in the property market remains a drag on growth, the Middle East conflict has exposed the economy to external risks at a time of fragile consumption at home.

China’s property investment contraction widened in April year-on-year.

Better-than-expected exports and China’s domestic fuel-pricing controls have helped weather the energy shock, but higher input costs could squeeze manufacturers’ margins and further hurt household spending if the conflict drags on.

Top Chinese leaders have pledged to strengthen the country’s energy security, accelerate technological self-sufficiency and seek greater control of supply chains in response to external shocks.

The Politburo also reiterated China’s “proactive” fiscal stance and “appropriately loose” monetary policy, language broadly in line with previous meetings and suggesting no imminent additional stimulus plans.

(Reporting by Ethan Wang, Joe Cash and Ellen ZhangEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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Recent outbreaks of hantavirus and norovirus on cruise ships are making headlines, but they’re unlikely to dim the growing popularity of vacation cruises, according to industry representatives and travel experts.

In fact, many within the industry still expect a record number of people worldwide to take cruises this year despite three passengers aboard the MV Hondius dying from hantavirus after the ship stopped in Argentina and a recent norovirus outbreak aboard a British ship docked in Bordeaux, France.

“The cruise consumer seems to be somewhat Teflon when it comes to stories like this,” said Rob Kwortnik, an associate professor at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration who closely watches the cruise industry.

In mid-April, an annual forecast by the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade group, estimated that 38.3 million people would travel on ocean-going ships this year, 4% more from a record 37.2 million passengers last year.

Industrywide sales figures are closely held. Asked about potential impacts from what happened aboard the MV Hondius, the trade association said it doesn’t comment or speculate on bookings. Several big cruise companies didn’t respond to questions from The Associated Press about customer demand, including Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company that owns the MV Hondius, said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has a cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.

Veteran cruisegoers said the outbreak would not affect their plans.

“I have eight cruises booked, and I’ll absolutely be booking another,” said Jenni Fielding, who blogs and posts social media videos about cruise trips under the moniker Cruise Mummy. “Cruising is as safe as any other type of holiday, provided travelers follow sensible health advice and stay aware of official guidance.”

Scott Eddy, a hospitality influencer, is currently on a cruise and docked in Monaco. Fellow passengers have not mentioned the hantavirus outbreak, he said.

“The average traveler understands that this is an isolated health situation and not something unique to cruise travel itself,” Eddy said.

CruiseCompete.com, an online marketplace where consumers making vacation plans can compare offers from travel agents, booked 31.7% more cabins in the first half of May compared to the same period last year, CEO Bob Levinstein said.

“I can categorically say that we have not seen any drop in demand,” Levinstein said.

Levinstein said that norovirus — an extremely contagious stomach bug that thrives in crowded environments — is conflated with cruises in the minds of many Americans because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control requires ships to disclose when 3% or more passengers report symptoms.

On a ship with 5,000 passengers, an illness impacting 3% of them “goes completely unnoticed by the vast majority of vacationers, and experienced cruisers know this,” he said.

Current news cycles rarely impact passengers’ decisions to join a cruise because the trips generally are booked at least 6 months — and often as much as a year – in advance, Kwortnik said.

“People who are booking cruises tomorrow are thinking about the holidays,” he said.

During a conference call Thursday with investors, Switzerland-based cruise line Viking said demand for its river cruises softened briefly during the first three months of this year after the Iran war began but then quickly rebounded.

Viking said 92% of its 2026 cruises and 38% of its 2027 cruises were booked. The company didn’t mention hantavirus or norovirus.

Andrew Coggins, a cruise industry analyst and professor in Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, said even if travelers set to embark on a cruise soon are unnerved by the latest news, they’re unlikely to get a refund.

“I think if there’s any impact on demand, it would be in the long term. If you’re cruising in the next few months, you’re past the point at which you can get your money back,” he said.

Coggins said he thinks the hantavirus story got a lot of attention because it reminded people of the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off Japan for two weeks in early 2020 after the coronavirus that grew into a global pandemic was detected on board.

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the cruise industry, shutting down many smaller operators. Cruises didn’t see an upswing in passengers again until 2022, Coggins said.

There are still fewer cruise passengers from China and Japan than there were before COVID, according to CLIA. But Coggins said demand elsewhere is booming.

“There are new ships on order out to 2037. The cruise lines are bullish. They see demand growing and they want to offer new bells and whistles, new ports, new destinations,” he said.

One reason for cruising’s growth is broad appeal across generations and income levels. In a recent U.S. survey, Bank of America found that Generation Z respondents and millennials were the most likely to say they planned to cruise over the next 12 months.

The survey also found that cruise spending rose for lower-income households even as those households spent less on airfare and lodging. Cruise lines have been wooing those passengers in recent years with shorter, more affordable itineraries.

Kwortnik said cruising also offers travelers value for their vacation dollars.

“On average, it costs more just to stay at a hotel in Miami than it does to sail on a cruise out of Miami – and the cruise includes lodging, multiple destinations, food, entertainment, and transportation all in the fare,” he said.

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Durbin reported from Detroit. Anderson reported from New York.

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