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By Mrinmay Dey (Reuters) -ChatGPT creator OpenAI will soon introduce controls allowing the owners of content rights to dictate how their characters are used in its AI video-generating tool Sora and plans to share revenue with those who permit such use. The artificial intelligence company will give rights holders "more granular control over generation of characters," Chief Executive Sam Altman posted on his blog on Friday. Altman said options for copyright owners, such as television and movie studios, will include being able to block the use of their characters. Scrutiny is growing over AI-generated content and its impact on intellectual property rights, as companies navigate how to balance innovation with fair compensation for creators. OpenAI launched Sora this week as a standalone app, initially available in the United States and Canada. Videos in the app can be up to 10 seconds long. The app, which swiftly rose in popularity, lets users create and share AI videos that can be spun from copyrighted content and shared to social media-like streams. Its copyright policy is expected to stir tensions in Hollywood. At least one major studio, Disney, has opted out of having their material appear in the app, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. OpenAI also plans to introduce a revenue-sharing model for copyright holders who permit their characters to be generated by users, Altman wrote. He said users are creating significantly more video content than expected, often for niche audiences, prompting the need for a monetization strategy. Altman acknowledged that the revenue-sharing framework "will take some trial and error to figure out," but said implementation would begin soon as OpenAI intends to test various approaches within Sora, before rolling out a consistent model across its broader product suite. Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched a Sora model for public use last year, expanding its foray into multimodal AI technologies and competing with similar text-to-video tools from Meta and Alphabet's Google. Meta recently unveiled Vibes, a platform where users can create and share short-form, AI-generated videos. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is considering significant tariff relief for U.S. auto production that could effectively eliminate much of the costs major car companies are paying, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno and auto officials told Reuters on Friday. "The signal to the car companies around the world is look, you have final assembly in the U.S.: we're going to reward you," Moreno said in an interview. "For Ford, for Toyota, for Honda, for Tesla, for GM, those are the almost in order of the top five domestic content vehicle producers – they'll be immune to tariffs." Moreno, a former car dealer, serves on the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees auto issues and is active in automotive policy matters. Automakers' shares rose on the news first reported by Reuters. Ford closed up 3.7%, Chrysler-parent Stellantis rose 3.2% and GM closed up 1.3%. The extended tariff relief — if finalized — would give automakers more incentive to move car production to the United States, which would fulfill a key Trump policy aimed at creating more jobs for Americans. The Commerce Department said in June that it planned an import adjustment offset equal to 3.75% of the suggested retail price for eligible U.S. assembled vehicles through April 2026 and then a second year at 2.5% to address tariffs from imported automobile parts. Trump is considering keeping the offset at 3.75% and extending the length of the credit to five years, and expanding the offset to U.S. engine production, Moreno and auto officials said. Moreno said he thinks Trump will make a final decision soon. "It's obviously up to the president, but (I'm) absolutely thrilled that we're creating now an incentive system that really separates these importer only versus the ones that are manufacturing in America." Moreno added automakers with significant final production in the United States should get tariff breaks: "Look, at the end of the day, they're doing exactly we want them to do – paying employees in America well and doing final assembly in the United States with the cars that they sell here." Asked for comment on the proposal, a White House official told Reuters that Trump and the administration "are committed to a nuanced and multi-faceted approach to securing domestic auto and auto parts production. Until any official action is signed by the president, however, any discussion about administration policymaking is speculative." In May, Trump imposed 25% auto tariffs on more than $460 billion worth of imports of vehicles and auto parts annually, but has since struck deals to reduce those tariffs on some countries including Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The Commerce Department said in August that it was hiking steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products including numerous auto parts totaling $240 billion in annual imports. The parts include automotive exhaust systems and electrical steel needed for electric vehicles as well as components for buses. The automakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One open question is whether the automakers will be able to apply the relief to the impact of aluminum and steel tariffs. Separately, the Trump administration has delayed finalizing new tariffs on heavy-duty trucks that were set to take effect this week it considers the extent to which it will impose new 25% levies. GM said earlier this year the company will face up to $5 billion in gross tariff-related costs this year, while Ford cited a $3 billion gross hit. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Anna Driver)

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By Nell Mackenzie and Anirban Sen LONDON (Reuters) -Hedge funds returned 1.3% in September, with managers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East outperforming their North American rivals, according to a JPMorgan client note on Thursday, seen by Reuters on Friday. Global equities in September climbed 3.4%. An index of developed market sovereign bonds rose around 0.7% last month. The JPMorgan note, which tracks hedge fund trading, said positioning in U.S. stocks was only "somewhat bullish," indicating an expectation for equities to rise.  Crowding in the biggest "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, which include Apple, Amazon and Nvidia, remained near historical highs, the note said.  In Europe, stock-pickers tended to bet that equities would rise. But multi-strategy funds – those that trade many strategies – and quantitative funds, which use algorithms, tended to wager that stock prices would decline.  In Asia, where stocks rose, hedge funds had more bets on a decline than a rise, the note said.  The $92.1 billion Bridgewater notched a 6% monthly gain in its Pure Alpha fund to September 29. From the beginning of the year until September 29, Bridgewater's Pure Alpha, Asia Total Return, All Weather, and China Total Return funds posted returns of 26.2%, 32.5%, 15.3%, and 28.4%, respectively. British hedge fund Marshall Wace posted September returns of 1.32%, up 8.04% for the year so far in its Eureka Fund, a source said. The $79 billion hedge fund's Market Neutral Tops fund returned 0.45% in September and was up 13.66% for the year, the source added. Systematic stock-trading hedge funds, such as Marshall Wace, are up over 13% for 2025 so far, Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients. Multi-strategy funds remained largely flat on the month, apart from the $28 billion Balyasny Asset Management, which added 1.3% in September to its annual return so far this year of 10%, another source with knowledge of the matter said.    (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie in London, Anirban Sen in New York and Summer Zhen in Hongk Kong; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Barbara Lewis)

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Japanese carmaker Toyota is set to resume vehicle production at two Brazilian plants, both in Sao Paulo state, starting November 3, after damages and disruptions from heavy rain and winds halted operations last month, the company said on Friday. In a statement, Toyota added it still has no forecast for resuming operations at its Porto Feliz plant, as the firm is still assessing the destruction caused by the weather conditions. Last week, a heavy storm provoked heavy damages at the Porto Feliz facility, which supplies engines to other facilities in the region. Images showed the site without a roof and sections of the ceiling collapsed onto equipment. The shutdown at Porto Feliz forced Toyota to halt production at its Indaiatuba and Sorocaba plants, which assemble models including Yaris, Corolla and Corolla Cross. On Friday, Toyota said production at both plants would resume with imported engines and other parts from units abroad. The firm also released a timeline to offset the delay in production, adding it will initially resume assembly for the hybrid Corolla and Corolla Cross models. The disruption also led Toyota to postpone the launch of its Yaris Cross model for the local market, which had been scheduled for Oct. 16. The company said on Friday it has not set a new date for the launch. (Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Kylie Madry)

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By Luciana Magalhaes and Leticia Fucuchima SAO PAULO (Reuters) -J&F Investimentos SA, the holding company owned by Brazil's billionaire Batista brothers, is in talks to acquire French utility EDF's Rio de Janeiro thermal plant, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal, which could fetch up to 2 billion reais ($374 million) according to one of the sources, has drawn interest from other bidders, they added. One of the sources noted that the asset sale, coordinated by Bank of America, is still in its early stages and J&F has not yet made a binding offer. The negotiations are part of a wave of dealmaking in Brazil's power sector this year, which could soon include big deals from players including Canada's Brookfield and France's Engie, people familiar with the matter said. Asked about talks to sell its Norte Fluminense plant, EDF said it is weighing IPOs of its North American and Brazilian subsidiaries as part of a 10-year global plan to grow its portfolio and long-term investment capacity. J&F and Bank of America declined to comment. FRENCH UTILITY REFOCUSES ON DOMESTIC NUCLEAR As part of a strategic overhaul, EDF is weighing options for its Brazilian assets while reducing its overseas presence and divesting non-core assets to refocus on domestic nuclear projects. The natural gas-fired plant is operating without long-term contracts from buyers, making it attractive to J&F, which often seeks underperforming assets for turnaround, a source said. J&F's power company Ambar Energia has other plants without long-term contracts in its portfolio. J&F, which also owns meatpacker JBS, has expanded its reach in the energy sector through its subsidiary Ambar Energia. The holding company separately made an offer this week to buy Roraima Energia, a power distribution company in the northern Brazilian state owned by the Oliveira Energia group. Last year, J&F signed a preliminary agreement with Oliveira Energia to take control of the power distribution company in Amazonas, but the deal has yet to be finalized. POWER SECTOR DRIVES BRAZIL DEALMAKING SURGE Energy and natural resources are leading the country's M&A activity this year, with transactions totaling $22.3 billion, or 53% of all deals in the country up until September, according to financial advisory firm Seneca Evercore. Four of Brazil's 10 largest deals in 2025 were in energy and three others in natural resources, driven by buyers seeking resilient sectors with steady cash flows, said Seneca Evercore's founding partner Daniel Wainstein. Among major deals on the horizon is Brookfield's potential sale of the Mantiqueira high-voltage power line in the state of Minas Gerais. The transaction, led by Brazilian investment banks Itau BBA and Bradesco BBI, could bring around 5 billion reais, with bidding already underway and a sale agreement expected late this year or early in 2026, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The deal, first reported in Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico, has attracted interest from China's State Grid, Colombia's Grupo Energia Bogota and a consortium of Brazil's Taesa and Cemig, sources said. Brookfield, Cemig, Itau and Bradesco declined to comment. State Grid, GEB and Taesa did not reply to requests for comment. ENGIE EXPLORES TRANSMISSION ASSET PARTNERSHIP Engie's Brazilian subsidiary is also weighing the sale of a minority stake in its transmission assets, two people familiar with the talks said. The French energy firm has engaged investment bank Morgan Stanley to analyze a potential partnership for its investments in transmission lines, one of the sources said. Another source said discussions are in early stages, without prospective buyers involved. In a statement, Engie confirmed it hired a financial adviser to evaluate opportunities in the transmission sector, but has not made any decisions. Morgan Stanley declined to comment. (Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Leticia FucuchimaEditing by Brad Haynes and Lisa Shumaker)

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By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar retreated on Friday, posting multi-week losses against major currencies, as uncertainty surrounding a U.S. government shutdown clouded the outlook and delayed key data releases, such as payrolls, critical for gauging the economy's direction. The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September was due for release on Friday, but was not published due to the government closure. The yen pulled back from this week's highs as traders mulled the Bank of Japan's next move ahead of a ruling party leadership election this weekend. In late afternoon trading, the euro rose 0.2% against the dollar to $1.1743, headed for its best week in a month. Gains in the euro pushed the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of key currencies, 0.1% lower at 97.69. The index had its worst weekly showing since July. "If the shutdown lasts for a long time, and I mean by several weeks, yes, then, of course, people will begin to question governability in the U.S., said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist, at Macquarie in New York. "And anytime that the market starts to worry about governability in that country, it usually is not a good story for the currency." Against the Swiss franc, the dollar fell 0.3% to 0.7951 francs, down 0.4% on the week, its largest weekly fall since mid-August. The dollar also slid against sterling, which rose 0.3% to $1.3479. The pound posted its biggest weekly gain since August 11. "We're still in a range. I think there's just a lack of directional momentum, and the fact that the government is shut down only adds to the low volatility environment," said Vassili Serebriakov, FX strategist at UBS in New York. The U.S. currency slightly extended its fall against major currencies after data showed U.S. services sector activity stalled in September amid a sharp slowdown in new orders. The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 50 last month, the breakeven level between growth and contraction, from 52.0 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI easing to 51.7. In other FX pairs, the dollar edged higher against the yen, up 0.1% at 147.41 yen, having earlier fallen as much as 0.4%. It rose 1.4% this week, which would be the biggest since mid-May. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a cautious tone in comments about the global economy, lowering expectations of an imminent rate hike. Markets were also focused on a Liberal Democratic Party election on Saturday that will determine Japan's next prime minister. The LDP election has consequences for Japan's budget and central bank policies. Among the front-runners, dovish party veteran Sanae Takaichi could trigger more bond market uncertainty, while farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi and top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi are less likely to rock the boat. TWO MORE FED RATE CUTS EXPECTED THIS YEAR Traders see a 25 basis-point (bp) cut at the Federal Reserve's October meeting as almost certain. Overall, the rate futures market has priced in about 47 bps of rate declines for the remainder of the year or just under two cuts, according to LSEG calculations. Fed Governor Stephen Miran on Friday again pressed for an aggressive path of rate cuts given big changes in the economy, while saying that the difference between his outlook and that of his central bank colleagues is not as great as some perceive it to be. Miran dissented in favor of a 50-basis-point rate cut at the Fed's policy-setting meeting last month. This week provided more evidence of sluggishness in the labor market, and more ammunition for the Fed to cut rates later this month. The ADP National Employment report on Wednesday showed private payrolls decreased by 32,000 in September.   Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on Friday, however, repeated her view that upside inflation risks, a labor market that is largely in balance and policy that is currently only modestly restrictive mean the central bank should not go ahead with further interest-rate cuts. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose for an eighth straight session, hitting its highest level since August 13, when it touched a record high. It was last up 1.2% at $122.164.19. , bolstered by recent gains in U.S. equities and inflows into bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Currency               bid prices at 3 October​ 08:24 p.m. GMT Descripti RIC Last U.S. Pct YTD Pct High Low on Close Change Bid Bid Previous Session Dollar 97.698 97.823 -0.12% -9.95% 97.949 97.6 index 01 Euro/Doll 1.1742 1.1715 0.22% 13.4% $1.176 $1.1 ar 716 Dollar/Ye 147.45 147.22 0.13% -6.32% 147.825 147. n 145 Euro/Yen 173.14​ 172.5 0.37% 6.08% 173.24 172. 44 Dollar/Sw 0.7953 0.7979 -0.32% -12.36% 0.798 0.79 iss 48 Sterling/ 1.3481 1.3439 0.33% 7.81% $1.3488 $1.3 Dollar 43​ Dollar/Ca 1.3951 1.3966 -0.12% -2.99% 1.3969 1.39 nadian 4 Aussie/Do 0.6603 0.6597 0.11% 6.73% $0.6614 $0.6 llar 59 Euro/Swis 0.9336 0.9345 -0.1% -0.61% 0.9358 0.93 s 36 Euro/Ster 0.8707 0.8713 -0.07% 5.25% 0.8729 0.87 ling 08 NZ 0.5832 0.5818 0.28% 4.25% $0.5838 0.58 Dollar/Do 14 llar Dollar/No 9.9415​ 9.9592 -0.18% -12.53% 9.9944 9.92 rway 42 Euro/Norw 11.6745 11.6842 -0.08% -0.8% 11.716 11.6 ay 6 Dollar/Sw 9.3677 9.3945 -0.29% -14.97% 9.4142 9.35 eden 09 Euro/Swed 10.998 11.0105 -0.11% -4.09% 11.0325 10.9 en 837 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Lucy Raitano in London and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Alex Richardson, Peter Graff, Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) -The S&P 500 eked out a record closing high in a volatile session Friday, with interest rate-cut expectations holding up as the U.S. government shutdown went on for a third day. The Dow also posted a record closing high, but the Nasdaq ended lower.  The S&P 500 technology sector eased, with shares of Applied Materials declining 2.7% after the chip-equipment maker late Thursday forecast a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue. Shares of Tesla were 1.4% lower, while utilities rose 1.2% and led gains among S&P 500 sectors.  The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September was due for release on Friday, but was not published due to the government closure. Investors were still able to digest a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, which showed the services employment index contracted for the fourth consecutive month. The news underscored the case for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. "It certainly feels like momentum is on the side of investors over the last few days," said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy at Edward Jones. It seems like "the market probability of a Fed rate cut has actually gone up since the shutdown began," she said. "Maybe that's because there's the potential impact on the economy or some weaker jobs data this week or this morning's ISM data… the expectation is we're still in this environment where the Fed is going to cut rates." The Fed cut rates in September for the first time since December amid recent labor market weakness. On Wednesday, a report showed a decline in private payrolls of 32,000 and a downwardly revised 3,000 decline in August.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.56 points, or 0.51%, to 46,758.28, the S&P 500 gained 0.44 points, or 0.01%, to 6,715.79 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 63.54 points, or 0.28%, to 22,780.51.  For the week, the Dow gained 1.1%, the S&P 500 also climbed 1.1% and the Nasdaq rose 1.3%. The market has historically shrugged off government shutdowns, but some strategists said that a longer shutdown could create more uncertainty for investors and for Fed policymakers. "The market generally looks past government shutdowns because they don't usually last long and they don't have a longer-term negative impact on the economy," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan. "But the longer it goes… it means the data collection for really important reports could get delayed, or it could cloud some of the data that we will eventually get because the data collection wasn't happening over an extended period." Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said he was hesitant to commit to a series of rate cuts with inflation still running above the target.  According to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, traders see a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's October meeting as almost certain and are pricing in an 84% probability of an additional cut in December. Shares of USA Rare Earth rose 14.3% after CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC the company was "in close communication" with the White House. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 686 new highs and 55 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,813 stocks rose and 1,880 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.5-to-1 ratio. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 20.47 billion shares, compared with the 19.01 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. (Additional reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Pooja Desai and Aurora Ellis)

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(Reuters) -Drugmaker AbbVie said on Friday it has lowered its annual profit forecast, after flagging an expected $2.7 billion charge related to in-process research and development (IPR&D) expenses in the third quarter. The Chicago-based company said in a regulatory filing that such expenses may arise from collaborations, licensing deals or asset buys, but are not forecast due to uncertainty around timing and occurrence. It did not specify how the expense was incurred. Including the third-quarter charge, AbbVie now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share between $10.38 and $10.58, compared with the prior range of $11.88 to $12.08. Analysts were expecting full-year adjusted EPS to be $12.02, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company's previous forecast for full-year adjusted earnings, issued on July 31, excluded any IPR&D expenses beyond the second quarter, it said. AbbVie added that the results for the quarter ended Sept. 30 have not been finalized. "There can be no assurance that our final results will not differ from these preliminary estimates," the company said. It forecast third-quarter adjusted EPS in the range of $1.74 to $1.78, including the impact of the IPR&D expense, much lower than the analysts' estimate of $3.27. Separately, AbbVie said earlier this week it began building a $195 million manufacturing plant in North Chicago, Illinois, expected to produce immunology, oncology and neuroscience drugs and be fully operational by 2027. AbbVie has been leaning on newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq to offset declining sales of its blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira, which began facing biosimilar competition in the U.S. in 2023. The company has spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions since then, and plans to spend another $10 billion on expansion in the country over the next decade. Its shares were down marginally in extended trade. (Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

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By Marc Jones and Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -World stocks were on course for a solid weekly gain and more record highs as the seemingly unstoppable rally in tech shares and expectations of lower U.S. interest rates helped to offset uncertainty surrounding the U.S. government shutdown. News late in the day that Palestinian militant group Hamas would agree to some of the terms in U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza helped strengthen the Israeli shekel. The group said it would release hostages while seeking further negotiations on more contentious issues such as disarmament, and the shekel rose 0.7% to 3.2912 per dollar, capping a 1.6% gain for the week. Investors have mostly shrugged off the U.S. shutdown, the 15th since 1981, but on Friday it meant traders weren't getting what is probably the single most-watched piece of market-moving economic data: monthly U.S. payrolls figures. Wall Street did not seem bothered, with all three major stock indexes hitting record highs, pushing MSCI's main 47-country index of world shares up 0.3%, while Europe cruised towards its best week since April. [.N][.EU] Still, with no resolution in sight for the U.S. shutdown, some analysts predicted that other U.S. economic releases might be delayed later this month. "Given the lack of talk among leadership, the shutdown is more likely than not to extend through the end of next week," TD Securities said in a note to clients. "We expect the release of jobless claims to remain sidelined, with the CPI (consumer inflation) and retail sales reports at risk the following week." The S&P 500 Index finished flat after hitting an all-time high of 6,750.87 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, pulling back a touch from a record peak of 22,925.43 points struck in early trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also jumped to a record high of 47,049.64 points, before retreating to finish 0.5% higher. Euro zone services sector PMIs helped the euro to tick up, too, as they accelerated to an eight-month high owing to moderate growth in Germany, Italy and Spain, although France's political turmoil continued to weigh them down. Christopher Hodge, U.S. economist at Natixis, said the lack of payrolls data in some ways bolstered the current view among forecasters that U.S. interest rates will be cut again this month. "The baseline (of a rate cut) is the default in the absence of new information," Hodge said, adding that the markets also had plenty of practice dealing with U.S. shutdowns. "The only thing that could be different this time is that we are in an economic and policy cycle that is a lot more ambiguous." Benchmark government bond yields – the main driver of global borrowing costs – nudged higher in both the U.S. and the euro zone, although they dropped in the UK after poor PMI data there, and all were down for the week. Markets are almost fully pricing in a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut this month and at least four cuts by the end of 2026. GOING FOR GOLD The overnight rise in MSCI's main Asian share index meant it closed with a 2.7% weekly gain and has now risen about 23% this year.  China and some other parts of Asia had been closed for a holiday, meaning trading was thinner than usual, although Taiwan hit a record high and Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.5% ahead of a crucial weekend vote that will determine that country's next prime minister. [.T] Weiheng Chen, global investment strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said investors appear willing to give Washington time to resolve its disagreements, although a prolonged government shutdown might start to move markets. "For now, investors remain more focused on the potential impacts of the Fed's rate-cutting cycle, trade and immigration policy, economic data, and corporate earnings," Chen said. With no government reports on the labor market to offer cues, investors have turned to alternative data from public and private sources and so far they point to a sluggish U.S. labor market. The Institute for Supply Management, for example, said on Friday its non-manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 50 last month, the breakeven level, from 52.0 in August, as U.S. services sector activity stalled in September amid a sharp slowdown in new orders. That has left the dollar under pressure. It sagged again on Friday against a basket of other top currencies and was on course for its biggest weekly drop since August. [/FRX] The Japanese yen has been a major beneficiary of that dip, although it weakened to 147.4 per dollar on Friday after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda left markets guessing on when the central bank will next hike interest rates. In commodities, oil prices recovered slightly on the day but were on course for their steepest weekly drop in more than three months. Brent crude futures were at $64.39 a barrel as U.S. trading gathered pace, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $60.69 a barrel. Gold, meanwhile, rose for a seventh straight week to $3,885.99 an ounce, after hitting a record of $3,896.49 an ounce on Thursday. It is viewed as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty and thrives on low interest rates. It has surged 47% this year. [GOL/] "As the U.S. dollar's status as the global reserve currency is tested, gold is emerging as the pre-eminent safe haven, and we continue to view it as the ultimate diversifier," said Greg Hirt, global CIO for multi-asset at AllianzGI. (Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Lisa Shumaker)

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By Erwin Seba, Shivani Tanna, Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan (Reuters) -Chevron's 285,000-barrel-per-day El Segundo refinery in southern California had taken multiple units offline on Friday after a large fire erupted in a jet fuel production unit, disrupting supply in the Golden State's isolated energy market. The El Segundo refinery is the second largest in California and Chevron's second-biggest refinery in the United States. The facility supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California. The fire at the facility's jet fuel production unit broke out on Thursday evening. No injuries were reported, and all workers at the refinery were accounted for, Chevron spokesperson Allison Cook said in an email. Chevron on Friday said the fire had been put out.  It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion at the facility in the suburb of El Segundo, which supplies jet fuel for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), located just north of the refinery. "There is no known impact to LAX at this time," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. LAX declined to comment.  The fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, two sources said. On Thursday evening, multiple units at the refinery were shut, including the 60,000 barrel per day (bpd) catalytic reformer, 45,000 bpd hydrocracker, and 73,000 bpd fluid catalytic cracker, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The refinery's crude distillation units were still online, two traders said, citing Wood Mackenzie data. AIRLINES HIT MORE THAN DRIVERS On the West Coast, traders were still assessing the extent of damage to the refinery, but early indications pointed to a small increase in motor fuel prices and potentially larger impacts for aviation fuel. Gasoline prices in California, already the highest in the country, are expected to rise five to 15 cents per gallon for now as the refinery's gasoline-producing unit was said to have not been impacted by the fire, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. California's nearly 28 million drivers were paying close to $4.70 a gallon for gasoline in the state as of Friday, compared to a national average of under $3.22 a gallon, GasBuddy data showed. However, airlines serving southern California will see much bigger impacts, with price for jet fuel surging by 33 cents a gallon Friday afternoon, De Haan said. California will likely need to pull more jet fuel imports from refiners in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan to make up for the loss of El Segundo's output, Asian trade sources said. Southern California's Long Beach region was receiving around 45,000 to 50,000 bpd of jet fuel imports in recent weeks, and would need to step that up by bringing one more cargo over the next few weeks, a market source said. Fuel prices in California were expected to surge in the months ahead, as Phillips 66 is winding down operations at its 139,000-bpd Los Angeles-area refinery for permanent closure and Valero's Benicia refinery is set to close in April 2026. Those two refineries produce roughly 20% of the state's gasoline supply. "In a region that was already expected to see some tightness in supplies after a refinery shutdown this December, the fire could provide support to (fuel prices) in the area and a scramble ahead of the closure," said StoneX analyst Alex Hodes. FIREBALL TURNED THE SKY ORANGE Local officials said no evacuation orders were issued for nearby residents, some of whom live in apartment buildings across the street from the refinery.  Residents of Manhattan Beach, located southwest of the refinery, were told to shelter in place until 2 a.m.  "Chevron fire department personnel, including emergency responders from the cities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach are actively responding to an isolated fire inside the Chevron El Segundo Refinery," Cook, the Chevron spokesperson, said on Friday. "All refinery personnel and contractors have been accounted for and there are no injuries," Cook said. Los Angeles residents posted numerous videos of the fire online, saying they were stunned by the noise of the blast. A University of California-San Diego camera captured video of the explosion shortly after 9:30 p.m. PDT (0430 GMT).  A fireball from the blaze, along with the refinery's safety flare – triggered by the fire –  turned the sky orange over western Los Angeles, pictures showed. Safety flares, which emit a tall plume of flame, are used when refineries cannot process hydrocarbons normally.  In addition to Chevron, state and federal safety agencies said they will investigate the fire after the blaze is extinguished. In December 2022, an isolated fire in the refinery was quickly extinguished. In the U.S. so far in 2025, there have been several refinery fire incidents. The refinery's total storage capacity is 12.5 million barrels in about 150 major tanks. The sources said they were not sure how much jet fuel was currently in storage.  (Reporting by Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan in New York, Erwin Seba in Houston, Shivani Tanna, Anmol Choubey, Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, Stephanie Kelly in London, Trixie Yap in Singapore; Editing by Susan Fenton, Clarence Fernandez, Edward Tobin and Leslie Adler)

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