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By Sneha S K (Reuters) -Shares of U.S. drugmakers rose after President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Pfizer will cut the price of all prescription drugs in the Medicaid program for low-income Americans in exchange for tariff relief and added that he expects other drugmakers to follow suit. Trump referred to another announcement from a drugmaker next week and said that Eli Lilly has been "fantastic" in these negotiations. Investors and analysts said the announcements appear to be the beginning of the rebound for the sector. While the "most favored nation" pricing and pharmaceutical tariffs have loomed as a concern for the sector for some time, today's announcement appears to read positively, said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman. Shares of Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Merck, AbbVie and Bristol Myers Squibb were up between 2% and 7% at the close. Separately, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary also made comments at the White House event on the commissioner's review voucher under which certain experimental therapies addressing a chronic public health need and meeting specific criteria could be reviewed in one to two months, rather than the standard 10 months. He is expected to announce five recipients of those vouchers. "We wouldn't be surprised if we see an announcement of a (voucher) for orfoglipron alongside the Lilly-White House deal, which should be just around the corner," said Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen. Trump sent letters to 17 leading drug companies in July, telling them to slash drug prices to match those paid overseas — a policy that the president called "most favored nation pricing," or MFN. The drug companies were asked to respond with binding commitments by September 29. Pfizer is the first company to announce a deal, and will also be part of the White House's new direct-to-consumer website for Americans to buy drugs, called TrumpRx, that will launch in 2026. "With the worst-case scenario now effectively off the table, this development serves as a meaningful clearing event for the sector," said Daniel Barasa, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. (Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Amazon.com won the dismissal on Tuesday of a lawsuit accusing the online retailer of discriminating against a Black former employee by reducing her duties and putting her on a performance improvement plan. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan said former Amazon Music event producer Keesha Anderson failed to show Amazon gave her a poor performance rating as a pretext to discriminate, or waited until Black and Hispanic women became her supervisors before questioning her work. Subramanian also said Amazon offered "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons" for not promoting the Staten Island, New York, resident, including that it wanted a strategist with skills she lacked. The case had drawn attention among the first to apply an April 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision that workers need not show concrete injuries such as pay cuts, demotions or firings to pursue federal employment discrimination claims. Anderson is reviewing her next legal steps, her lawyer Jessie Djata said in an email. "We continue to believe that our client was subjected to discrimination (and) raised important concerns about fairness and equal opportunity at one of the world's largest companies," Djata said. Amazon and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. WARNING OVER DELETED RECORDINGS, FABRICATED QUOTATIONS While Subramanian let the case proceed in May 2024, it ran into trouble when Anderson acknowledged deleting conversations with coworkers and managers that she had secretly recorded. Moreover, an unnamed "whistleblower" who allegedly flagged Seattle-based Amazon's effort to sideline Anderson turned out to be the Hispanic manager, who was quoted in Anderson's complaint as saying things she never said. Subramanian rejected Amazon's request to sanction Anderson and her lawyer, but said their conduct "toes the line on what constitutes sanctionable conduct" and should not be repeated. "Putting the now-discredited allegations concerning the 'whistleblower' to the side," Subramanian wrote, "the case paints a picture of a run-of-the-mill workplace, maybe even one with more positivity than usual." Anderson claimed that Amazon excluded her from meetings and events, rejected her ideas and limited her duties to administrative tasks, before putting her on a performance improvement plan based on minor, "trumped up" allegations. She quit Amazon after 2-1/2 years in February 2022 for a higher-paying job at Snapchat parent Snap. The case is Anderson v. Amazon.com Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 23-08347. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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By Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Energy will take a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and a separate 5% stake in the company's Thacker Pass lithium mine joint venture with General Motors, according to a source familiar with negotiations. Reuters reported last week that Trump administration officials were in discussions with Lithium Americas about an equity stake in the company as they renegotiated terms of a $2.26 billion government loan for the mine, slated to become the largest source of the battery metal lithium in the Western Hemisphere. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Chris Reese)

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By Dhara Ranasinghe and Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Caution took hold of world markets on Tuesday, with the dollar and equities gyrating in choppy trade and gold briefly hitting a record high on concern a likely U.S. government shutdown could delay key jobs data. President Donald Trump said the United States is probably headed towards its 15th government shutdown since 1981, and that his administration could make irreversible changes in such a scenario. The dollar was broadly weaker while U.S. stocks managed to erase early losses and close slightly higher, as investors prepared for a shutdown to begin once a midnight deadline to craft a new funding deal has passed. PROSPECT OF U.S. SHUTDOWN PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON JOBS A government closure would delay the issue this Friday of key employment numbers, putting the spotlight on Tuesday's JOLTS report from the Department of Labor which showed that U.S. job openings increased marginally in August while hiring declined. This was consistent with lackluster labor market conditions that could allow the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again next month despite resilient consumer spending. "A full government shutdown on October 1 appears increasingly likely," said Monica Guerra, head of U.S. policy at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. U.S. stocks nursed modest losses for most of the day before eking out gains in the final hours of trade. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. Wall Street's gains on Tuesday capped a spectacular month of performance for U.S. stocks. The S&P 500's September performance – a gain of 3.5% – was the best in any September since 2010. The late spurt in U.S. stocks helped to lift the MSCI All-World index 0.4% higher.  Across the Atlantic, the pan-European STOXX 600 also reversed earlier losses to rise 0.5%, helped by gains in industrial and healthcare stocks, while Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.25%. For the month, the STOXX 600 was up 1%, its best monthly performance since May.  "We've actually just decided to increase our weightings in equities further," said Shaniel Ramjee, co-head of multi-asset at Pictet Asset Management. "The earnings picture has recovered quite materially at the same time that global central banks are still cutting interest rates and global growth is fine." Australia's dollar added to gains after the central bank held policy rates unchanged, as widely expected. Oil prices fell more than 1% on prospects of greater production by OPEC+, while China's manufacturing activity shrank for a sixth month in September. A SHINING MONTH FOR GOLD Risks of a shutdown added to gold's stunning rally. It briefly hit a record high of $3,871.45 per ounce before trading lower on the day. It has gained more than 10% in September, on track for its biggest monthly percentage gain since July 2020.  Meanwhile the dollar was down 0.5% at 147.9 yen, the euro was flat at $1.17355, and the Swiss franc and pound were a touch firmer against the dollar. The dollar index was last down 0.1% on the day and set to end September little changed on the month. The yen could emerge as an outperformer as a hedge to a U.S. government shutdown, ING currency analysts said in a note. The September employment report due Friday is considered key to the Fed's calculations for the timing of rate cuts. A protracted government closure could leave the Fed flying blind on the economy when it meets on October 29, however. China's purchasing managers' index rose to 49.8 in September from 49.4 in August, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. It suggested producers are waiting for further stimulus to boost domestic demand, as well as clarity on a U.S. trade deal. China's blue-chip CSI300 Index rose almost 0.5%, for a fifth straight month of gains and its longest such streak since October 2017. The Reserve Bank of Australia left its cash rate steady at 3.60%, saying recent data suggested inflation might be higher than forecast in the third quarter and that the economic outlook remained uncertain. In Europe, data showing inflation rising in four key German states had limited market impact. Oil stayed weaker due to an anticipated production increase by OPEC+ and the resumption of oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region. Brent slipped 1.3% to $67.10 per barrel and U.S. crude fell 1.5% to $62.51. (Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; additional reporting by Naomi Rovnick in London. Editing by Mark Potter, Nick Zieminski and Edmund Klamann)

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By Aditya Soni (Reuters) -Popular NBC shows including "Sunday Night Football" and "America's Got Talent" may disappear from YouTube TV as soon as Tuesday if the two sides fail to agree on a new distribution deal, a standoff that could influence the future of television. Carriage talks have stalled over the rates Alphabet's YouTube TV will pay to distribute to its 10 million subscribers the shows of Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, the two companies have said. But a bigger negotiation looms behind the scenes, and it reflects the newfound clout of YouTube as the dominant provider of video services in the United States. YouTube TV wants to show content offered exclusively on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service – such as hit reality series "Love Island" – directly on its platform, a person familiar with the talks told Reuters. Currently, users have to open the Peacock app to see the shows, even on YouTube TV.  Known as "direct ingestion," it is an approach that NBCUniversal opposes, as it wants to preserve Peacock – which it launched in 2020 – as a standalone service that can collect subscriber data and sell targeted ads. For YouTube, securing NBC content would aid its push to become the country's biggest pay-TV distributor and strengthen the core ad business of Google – which is also owned by Alphabet – on smart TVs, where ad slots command premium rates.  These battles "will have important strategic implications for the future of media," LightShed analyst Richard Greenfield said in a note to clients. Disney's carriage deal with YouTube TV is also up for renewal at the end of October and similar talks will likely occur then, he said. "We suspect YouTube TV cares far less about the rate it ultimately pays and far more about being able to ingest content from legacy media streaming apps," he said. YOUTUBE'S GROWING CLOUT YouTube now accounts for the largest share of TV viewing in the U.S., ahead of streaming rival Netflix and traditional media companies such as Disney, according to Nielsen. Its cable-like subscription service, YouTube TV, ranks among the four largest U.S. pay-TV distributors, and Alphabet's deep pockets recently gave it leverage over Paramount and Fox Corp in carriage talks, according to media firms and analysts.  NBCUniversal offered YouTube the same terms it extended to other large TV distributors – including Amazon's Prime Video Channels – and is looking to include its streaming service as part of the bundle of programming YouTube TV distributes, said the person familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity because the talks were private. An NBCUniversal spokesperson said in a statement last week: "YouTube TV has refused the best rates and terms in the market, demanding preferential treatment and seeking an unfair advantage over competitors to dominate the video marketplace — all under the false pretense of fighting for the consumer."  The online video service counters, however, that NBCUniversal is asking for YouTube TV to pay more for its shows than the media company charges consumers for the same content on Peacock. The company said in a blog post on Thursday that it would offer YouTube TV subscribers a $10 credit if NBC content is "unavailable for an extended period of time."  Analysts believe that losing carriage on YouTube TV could cut affiliate revenue and shrink subscriber bases for traditional media companies, with little assurance that viewers will migrate to their standalone streaming apps.  For Google, losing NBC content could weaken YouTube TV's appeal on connected TVs. The talks will also have major implications for Spanish-language media. Univision, owned by TelevisaUnivision, has said YouTube TV plans to move its channels into a pricier tier that would impose what it calls a "Hispanic tax" of 18%.    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday urged YouTube to reverse its Univision decision, alleging the company was "targeting" the network for hosting a 2024 town hall with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Paxton said his office would act to keep Univision accessible if YouTube's actions violated state law. YouTube said TelevisaUnivision accounts for only a small share of viewing on its pay TV service and that it remains committed to a deal reflecting the network’s performance and pricing. If NBCUniversal's content including Telemundo is also dropped, it would deprive YouTube TV of a giant slice of Spanish-language broadcast programming.  (Reporting by Aditya Soni in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis)

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By Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Tuesday it had agreed to reduce how much capital Morgan Stanley must hold as a result of its most recent "stress test" results, lowering the required buffer from 5.1% to 4.3% for the upcoming year. In a statement, the Fed said further analysis showed that the central bank may have been too conservative in making some estimations under the test, and other unique characteristics of the bank contributed to the reconsideration. Morgan Stanley announced it would appeal the results of the June test in August, when the Fed announced new capital levels for all the large banks examined. Specifically, the Fed said new information presented by the bank showed the regulator may have been too conservative in estimating losses in the bank's fair value option loan portfolio, due in part to the unique composition of that portfolio. In a statement, Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya said the bank appreciated the result, and looked forward to continue engagement with the Fed as it reconsiders its stress testing framework. "Morgan Stanley remains focused on ensuring we have long-term capacity to support global client engagement, invest in our core businesses and consistently grow our quarterly dividend," she said. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian home prices increased at the fastest pace in a year in September, driven by rate cuts and record-low listings, property consultant Cotality said on Wednesday. National home prices increased 0.8% to a record median value of A$857,280 ($565,462) in September, marking the strongest monthly gain since October last year, according to figures from Cotality, formerly CoreLogic. For the quarter, prices were up 2.2%, compared with a 1.5% lift in the second quarter. The monthly gain was broad-based, led by a jump of 1.2% in Brisbane and a 1.6% surge in Perth. Sydney prices rose 0.8%, while Melbourne lagged a little at 0.5%. "The spring selling season is shaping up to be a strong one, with vendors claiming the driver's seat," Cotality said. "Low advertised stock levels and higher buyer demand are a recipe for solid selling conditions that will likely see prices lift further through spring and into the end of the year." Cotality said the strongest pace of growth had moved from the lower quartile of the market to the broad middle, likely a reflection of increased borrowing capacity thanks to lower interest rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates steady at 3.60% on Tuesday, but has cut rates three times this year as inflation slowed. The central bank said recent data suggested inflation might be higher than forecast in the third quarter and the economic outlook remained uncertain. The Labor government's new policy of helping first home buyers to enter the market with just a 5% deposit will take effect from Wednesday. That is expected to further stoke demand. The rental market is also showing renewed signs of tightness, with national vacancy rates slipping to a record low. Rents rose 0.5% in September from a month earlier, taking the quarterly gain to 1.4%, the highest since June last year. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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(Reuters) -Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to buy Occidental Petroleum's OxyChem petrochemical unit for about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter. The potential sale of the OxyChem unit, which supplies products used in medical care, food security and construction, would add to a series of divestitures the U.S. oil and gas producer has pursued in recent years. The deal could come together within days, the report said. Berkshire, Occidental's largest shareholder, owns about 27% of the outstanding shares in the Houston, Texas-based company. The conglomerate began acquiring its stake in February 2022, around the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Occidental has grappled with a heavy debt load, a legacy of its $55 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, when it outbid rival Chevron to secure shale oilfields in Texas. Anadarko's nearly a quarter-million acres in the Permian Basin hold oil and gas deposits that can produce output for decades using low-cost drilling techniques. Occidental's $12 billion acquisition of privately held U.S. shale oil producer CrownRock last year significantly increased the company's debt load, which was $23.34 billion at the end of June. The OxyChem unit generated $2.42 billion in revenue in the first two quarters of 2025. The report said the OxyChem deal would be Buffett's second big bet on chemicals. In 2011, Berkshire acquired specialty chemicals producer Lubrizol for close to $10 billion, including debt. (Reporting by Katha Kalia and Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Amazon.com won the dismissal on Tuesday of a lawsuit accusing the online retailer of discriminating against a Black former employee by reducing her duties and putting her on a performance improvement plan. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan said former Amazon Music event producer Keesha Anderson failed to show Amazon gave her a poor performance rating as a pretext to discriminate, or waited until Black and Hispanic women became her supervisors before questioning her work. Subramanian also said Amazon offered "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons" for not promoting the Staten Island, New York resident, including that it wanted a strategist with skills she lacked. The case had drawn attention among the first to apply an April 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision that workers need not show concrete injuries such as pay cuts, demotions or firings to pursue federal employment discrimination claims. Anderson's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Amazon and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. WARNING OVER DELETED RECORDINGS, FABRICATED QUOTATIONS While Subramanian let the case proceed in May 2024, it ran into trouble when Anderson acknowledged deleting conversations with coworkers and managers that she had secretly recorded. Moreover, an unnamed "whistleblower" who allegedly flagged Seattle-based Amazon's effort to sideline Anderson turned out to be the Hispanic manager, who was quoted in Anderson's complaint as saying things she never said. Subramanian rejected Amazon's request to sanction Anderson and her lawyer, but said their conduct "toes the line on what constitutes sanctionable conduct" and should not be repeated. "Putting the now-discredited allegations concerning the 'whistleblower' to the side," Subramanian wrote, "the case paints a picture of a run-of-the-mill workplace, maybe even one with more positivity than usual." Anderson claimed that Amazon excluded her from meetings and events, rejected her ideas and limited her duties to administrative tasks, before putting her on a performance improvement plan based on minor, "trumped up" allegations. She quit Amazon after 2-1/2 years in February 2022 for a higher-paying job at Snapchat parent Snap. The case is Anderson v. Amazon.com Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 23-08347. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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(Reuters) -Spirit Airlines has negotiated funding of up to $475 million with existing bondholders to support normal business operations during its Chapter 11 restructuring, its parent company said on Tuesday. Spirit expects $200 million of the debtor-in-possession financing to be available immediately if the court approves. The next hearing is scheduled for October 10. The company has also got interim access to $120 million of liquidity, it said. In August, the U.S. no-frills pioneer filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in a year after a previous reorganization failed to put it on firmer financial footing. Spirit said on Tuesday that it has agreed with aircraft lessor AerCap Holdings to reject leases on 27 aircraft. AerCap will pay Spirit $150 million as part of the deal. The agreement resolves their dispute over a deal covering 36 Airbus planes due for delivery between 2027 and 2028. The company also said it has got the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York's approval to reject 12 airport leases and 19 ground handling agreements. Last week, Sprit had said it's halting 40 routes. (Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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