Shares are higher in Asia after another wobbly day on Wall Street extended a losing streak for markets. Hong Kong advanced nearly 2.5% and other benchmarks were moderately higher. Oil prices slipped. On Monday, the S&P 500 failed to hold onto an afternoon gain, losing 0.4%. The benchmark index is coming off a six-week losing streak. Tech companies were among the biggest losers, pulling the Nasdaq down 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended barely in the green. Spirit Airlines jumped after JetBlue said it would make a hostile offer for the budget carrier. ManTech surged after investment firm Carlyle Group said it will buy the defense contractor. 

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv has been rocked by a number of very loud explosions.  An Associated Press team in the city witnessed the glare of bright explosions which lit up the night sky to the west of the city shortly after midnight local time. Witnesses counted at least eight explosions accompanied by distant booms. The smell of burning was apparent some time later.  The city is currently under curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Makysym Kozytskyy, chairman of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, says the Russians had fired on military infrastructure in the Yavoriv district. The city of Yavoriv is about 15 kilometers (less than 10 miles) from the Polish border. 

JetBlue is going hostile in its bid for Spirit Airlines. And it's asking Spirit shareholders to reject a proposed $2.9 billion acquisition by Frontier Airlines. Spirit shareholders are scheduled to vote June 10 on the Frontier bid, which is favored by Spirit's board. Spirit has cited uncertainty about regulatory approval of JetBlue’s $3.6 billion offer for the Florida budget carrier. JetBlue said Monday that Frontier’s offer is high-risk and low-value. Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. fell 6% while shares of Frontier, based in Denver, closed up 6%. Shares of Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, jumped 13.5% but still closed well below either JetBlue offer, at $19.27.

LEXINGTON, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2022--

Sri Lanka’s new prime minister wants to privatize the country’s loss-making national airline as part of reforms aimed at solving the country worst economic crisis in decades. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says he plans to propose a special relief budget that will take the place of the development-oriented budget earlier approved for this year. It would channel all funds allocated for infrastructure development to public welfare. He says the country’s financial health is so poor that the government has been forced to print money to pay the salaries of government workers and buy other goods and services. The president appointed Wickremesinghe prime minister last Thursday in a bid to quell the island nation’s political and economic crisis.

BEIT YANAI, Israel & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2022--