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By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is in talks to acquire Macquarie-backed Aligned Data Centers, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. The acquisition could value the data center operator at around $40 billion, one of the sources said. The deal underscores surging investor demand for data centers that help train artificial intelligence models and power their growing adoption across the globe. The talks, which involve Abu Dhabi-based AI investment firm MGX, are at an advanced stage, the sources said. Bloomberg News first reported the development on Thursday. MGX, established by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and G42, may invest in Aligned as part of the transaction, the people familiar with the matter said. Mubadala holds a minority stake in the data center operator. GIP, BlackRock, Aligned, Macquarie, MGX and Mubadala did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Texas-based Aligned, which specializes in AI-related infrastructure, raised more than $12 billion in January. The company operates nearly 80 data centers, with more than 5 gigawatts of capacity in operation or development, according to its website. Aligned counts hyperscale cloud providers and artificial intelligence firms such as Lambda among its customers. If completed, the Aligned deal would mark one of the largest-ever acquisitions of a private data center company. The scramble for computing capacity has intensified as OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and Abu Dhabi's MGX plan to invest in Stargate, a $500-billion-dollar supercomputer project to house growing computing needs. Investors have poured record sums into digital infrastructure this year, betting that rising power needs will make data centers critical real estate assets. McKinsey estimates investments in AI-related infrastructure could reach $6.7 trillion by 2030. GIP is also in late-stage talks to buy utility firm AES in a deal that could be valued at more than $40 billion, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. (Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham, Gnaneshwar Rajan and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Shinjini Ganguli)

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PARIS (Reuters) -Airbus delivered a provisional 70 jets in September, lifting the cumulative number of deliveries achieved since the start of the year above the equivalent running total for 2024 for the first time, according to preliminary Cirium data. Data from the UK-based analytics firm suggests Airbus delivered 504 aircraft between January and September, up 1.4% from 497 in the first nine months of 2024, subject to final revisions. Cumulative deliveries had previously been lagging as the planemaker faces engine shortages. Airbus, which targets a 7% increase in full-year deliveries to 820, declined to comment ahead of an October 8 delivery update. (Reporting by Tim HepherEditing by Mark Potter)

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By Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes looked set to climb on Friday as optimism about an imminent interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve boosted sentiment ahead of the final trading session of a week that saw volatility due to the U.S. government shutdown. The federal shutdown, which began on Wednesday, has disrupted the flow of critical data the U.S. central bank uses to assess if economic conditions justify a reduction in borrowing costs. The highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls report originally scheduled for a Friday release has now been postponed, leaving investors to rely on other indicators. These suggest a softening in the labor market, keeping bets on an impending rate cut alive. The optimism, coupled with strength in the technology sector, has so far helped investors look past the impasse in Washington. The three main indexes marked record closing highs on Thursday and were on track to notch weekly gains if the current levels hold through Friday's session. "The market's focused on a couple of different things instead of the shutdown. One is the AI optimism that we've seen over recent days, and then the data that came out this week is pretty supportive of the Fed being able to cut rates," said Veronica Willis, global investment strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in New York. At 08:26 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 68 points, or 0.15%, S&P 500 E-minis added 5.75 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 21.25 points, or 0.08%. Still, the rally has shown signs of fragility, with stocks occasionally retreating as traders lock in gains. Investors will now turn to the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI data for September that is due later in the day. The final readings of S&P Global services and composite PMIs for September are also on deck. These data points may influence near-term expectations for the Fed's actions, making equities susceptible to headline-driven swings. New York Fed President John Williams said central banks needed to be aware that unpredictable changes were inevitable and strategize to operate in those environments. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will speak at a conference later in the day. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is also scheduled to discuss the U.S. economic outlook and policy framework in Philadelphia. In stocks, Tesla rose about 1.4% in premarket trading after dropping more than 5% on Thursday. Shares of USA Rare Earth jumped 13.4% after CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC the company was "in close communication" with the White House. Applied Materials fell 2.1% after the chip-equipment maker forecast a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue on broader semiconductor export curbs. Shares of peer Lam Research shed 1.4%. (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Pooja Desai)

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By Robert Harvey LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were stable on Friday but remained on course for a weekly loss of about 7-8% after news of potential increases to OPEC+ supply.  Brent crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.33%, at $64.32 a barrel by 1220 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 19 cents, or 0.31%, at $60.67. For the week, Brent was trading 8.3% down and WTI was on course for a 7.7% decline. "We are in a wait-and-see mode for what the OPEC+ Group of Eight will decide over the weekend," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding that Friday's modest price recovery is likely to be attributable to positive risk sentiment.  Eight members of OPEC+ could agree to raise production in November by 274,000-411,000 barrels per day (bpd), or two or three times higher than the October increase, sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share. Potentially higher OPEC+ supply, slowing global crude refinery runs owing to maintenance and a seasonal dip in demand in the months ahead are set to weigh on market sentiment, analysts say. "Demand indicators have fallen a touch through the Atlantic Basin as summer demand comes to an end. The oversupplied implied balance from a fundamentals perspective starting in October is gaining ground," said Rystad Energy analyst Janiv Shah. JPMorgan analysts, meanwhile, said they believed that September marked a turning point, with the oil market heading towards a sizeable surplus in the fourth quarter and into next year. Elsewhere on Friday, a fire broke out at Chevron's El Segundo refinery overnight, though a county official said the flames had been confined to one area. The refinery is one of the largest on the U.S. West Coast, with capacity of 290,000 bpd. It was not immediately clear if there was any impact on production, but the impact on oil prices could be limited, analysts said. "The El Segundo refinery is on the West Coast, which is isolated from the rest of the U.S. as far as domestic oil flow is concerned; therefore, its impact is most likely negligible," said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said: "Apart from lifting already elevated gasoline prices in California, I don’t think the fire should have a broader market impact." (Reporting by Robert Harvey and Sudarshan VaradhanEditing by David Goodman)

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By Erwin Seba, Shivani Tanna and Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) -A large fire erupted in a jet fuel production unit at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery near Los Angeles on Thursday, disrupting supply in California's isolated energy market. Chevron's second-biggest refinery in the United States, the El Segundo facility supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California. No injuries were reported and all workers at the refinery were accounted for, Chevron spokesperson Allison Cook said in an email. Media said the blaze had been contained, though it was still burning early on Friday.  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. WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA'S FUEL MARKET?  "There is no known impact to LAX at this time," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. The fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, two sources said. It was unclear how it would affect the refinery’s ability to produce jet fuel, and whether wider output had been affected. U.S. WTI crude futures prices were trading up 22 cents at $60.70 per barrel at 1136 GMT on Friday, on course for a weekly loss of more than 7%. [O/R] The fire is unlikely to have a large impact on the wider oil market, two analysts told Reuters, but California gasoline prices could rise as the state's fuel market is isolated from other U.S. refining centers in the Midwest and on the Gulf Coast. If supply is affected, the California market could draw fuel imports from northeast Asia refiners in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, Asian trade sources said. Northeast Asia has sent 90,000 barrels per day of jet fuel to the U.S. West Coast region so far this year versus 112,000 bpd in 2024, Kpler data showed. FIREBALL TURNED THE SKY ORANGE "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 spokesperson, said. "All refinery personnel and contractors have been accounted for and there are no injuries." 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.  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).  The fireball when the fire erupted turned the sky orange in the western Los Angeles area as did the refinery's safety flare, which was set off due to the blaze. 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 will investigate the fire after the blaze is extinguished, they said. 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 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 and Mark Potter)

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By Rocky Swift and Lucy Raitano TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar headed for its worst week since late July on Friday as the U.S. government shutdown increased uncertainty, while 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. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of key currencies, was flat at 97.77. The euro was up 0.2% at $1.1736. Sterling firmed 0.1% to $1.345. "We've got the government shutdown in the U.S. … for market participants it means we're not getting any of the data releases we would usually get like the non-farm payrolls data today," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. "I think that's why we're seeing things trade in such listless fashion." BOJ GOVERNOR STRIKES CAUTIOUS TONE Though ISM data is due out of the U.S. later, Brown said he did not expect it to move the needle. The yen eased 0.1% to 147.375 per dollar, having earlier fallen as much as 0.4%. But it remained on track for a 1.4% advance this week that 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. "Market participants are a little bit disappointed potentially … he (Ueda) didn't really lean into the idea of an October rate hike as much as some of his colleagues have done in recent sessions, that's why we've seen a little bit of pressure on the yen," said Brown. Markets were keeping a close eye on speeches by BOJ officials this week after the central bank's tankan survey on Wednesday showed confidence among big manufacturers improved for the second straight quarter. Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said on Thursday that the business mood was improving and corporate profits remained high even as U.S. tariffs weighed on exports. But in a speech on Friday, Governor Ueda put the focus back on how global factors, particularly the health of the U.S. economy, could affect the trajectory of wages and prices in Japan. Goldman Sachs economists said in a note that Ueda's speech "supports our view that the possibility of an October rate hike is very low." The LDP election also has consequences for Japan's budget and central bank policies. Among the frontrunners, 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 In the U.S. overnight, a Chicago Fed report that combined private and available public data estimated the September jobless rate was 4.3%, the same as in August and evidence that a feared rapid rise in unemployment had not yet begun. But details of the report, along with other data, pointed to sluggishness in the labour market. The ADP National Employment report on Wednesday showed private payrolls decreased by 32,000 in September, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates twice more this year. Traders see a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's October meeting as almost certain and are pricing in an 89% probability of an additional cut in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on Thursday said the central bank appropriately cut rates last month to guard against the risk of a sharp deterioration in the job market, but said that so far the cooling has been gradual and signalled she was not eager to cut rates further. Elsewhere, a few Fed, ECB, Bank of England central bankers were due to speak at the farewell symposium of the Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot, including ECB President Christine Lagarde and the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey. (Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo and Lucy Raitano in London; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Toby Chopra and Alex Richardson)

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By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a "very high risk," according to a recent internal Army memo. The two Silicon Valley companies, led by allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, have gained access to the Pentagon's lucrative flow of contracts on the promise of quickly providing less expensive and more sophisticated weapons than the Pentagon's longstanding arms providers.   But the September memo from the Army's chief technology officer about the NGC2 platform that connects soldiers, sensors, vehicles and commanders with real-time data paints a bleak picture of the initial product. "We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure," the memo says. Palantir and Anduril did not comment for this story.  The assessment, seen by Reuters and first reported by Breaking Defense, comes just months after defense drone and software maker Anduril was awarded a $100 million to create a prototype of NGC2 with partners including Palantir, Microsoft and several smaller contractors. The Army should treat the NGC2 prototype version as “very high risk” because of the “likelihood of an adversary gaining persistent undetectable access," wrote Gabrielle Chiulli, the Army chief technology officer authorizing official. Despite the early September memo's scathing critique, Leonel Garciga, Army chief information officer and Chiulli's supervisor, said in a statement to Reuters that the report was part of a process that helped in "triaging cybersecurity vulnerabilities" and mitigating them. In March, the 4th Infantry Division used the system in live-fire artillery training at Fort Carson, Colorado, in an exercise Anduril described as demonstrating faster and more reliable performance than legacy systems. The Army memo identifies some major security gaps. The report says the system allows any authorized user to access all applications and data regardless of their clearance level or operational need. As a result, "Any user can potentially access and misuse sensitive" classified information, the memo states, with no logging to track their actions. Other deficiencies highlighted in the memo include the hosting of third-party applications that have not undergone Army security assessments. One application revealed 25 high-severity code vulnerabilities. Three additional applications under review each contain over 200 vulnerabilities requiring assessment, according to the document. (Reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Chris Sanders and Sergio Non)

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(Reuters) -USA Rare Earth shares jumped 10% in premarket trading on Friday, after a report that the mining company's CEO Barbara Humpton said it was in close discussions with the White House. Humpton was addressing a question about the company's potential interest in striking a deal with the Trump administration, in an interview with CNBC late on Thursday. USA Rare Earth did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump had invoked emergency powers in March to boost domestic production of critical minerals as part of a broad effort to offset China's near-total control of the sector. Earlier this week, the Trump administration took a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and a separate 5% stake in the company's Thacker Pass joint venture with General Motors, which is set to be the largest lithium source in the Western Hemisphere. MP Materials had also unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government in July to boost output of rare earth magnets, with the defense department becoming its largest shareholder. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. China had halted exports in March as part of a trade spat with Trump, which showed some signs of easing in June even as broader tensions underscored the need for greater U.S. output. USA Rare Earth has been developing a mine in Sierra Blanca, Texas and a neo magnet manufacturing facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma, currently planned to go commercial in the first half of 2026. As of last close, its shares have gained 97.8% so far this year, giving the company a market capitalization of about $2.59 billion. (Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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(Reuters) -U.S. equity funds saw robust inflows in the week to October 1 on renewed bets of rate cuts, as an inflation report eased worries that a buildup in prices would push the Federal Reserve to delay policy support for a weakening labor market. Investors bought a net $36.41 billion worth of U.S. equity funds during the week in their largest weekly net purchase since November 13, 2024, LSEG Lipper data showed. The large-cap funds segment stood out as it drew a net of $40.75 billion in weekly inflows, the largest amount since at least 2022. Small-cap and mid-cap funds, however, witnessed outflows to the tune of $2.59 billion and $2.28 billion, respectively. Among sectoral funds, investors scooped up tech sector funds of net $3.04 billion after two weeks of net sales. They also added funds of $652 million and $497 million in the industrial and communication services sectors, respectively. Investors, meanwhile, ditched a net $1.58 billion worth of bond funds, halting their 23-week-long trend of net purchases. They divested U.S. short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds of a net $9.37 billion in their largest weekly sales since at least January 2022. At the same time, U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds and general domestic taxable fixed-income funds gained net inflows of $1.95 billion and $1.55 billion, respectively. Weekly net investments in money market funds, meanwhile, jumped to a four-week high of $47.08 billion during the week. (Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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(Reuters) -A fire broke out in a jet fuel unit at Chevron's 285,000 barrel-per-day El Segundo refinery near Los Angeles on Thursday, sending flames and smoke into the air. No injuries were reported and all workers at the refinery were accounted for, Chevron said in an email. The fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, two sources said. Isomax 7 produces jet fuel along with the refinery’s two crude distillation units for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Chevron's second-biggest refinery in the United States, the El Segundo facility supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California. In the U.S. so far in 2025, there have been several refinery fire incidents. Below are key details: Company Processing Key products Location Date of Impact capacity incident Chevron 285,000 Produces about 40% of El Segundo, California October 3 No injuries were barrel-per-day southern California’s reported, all workers (bpd) jet fuel and 20% of its at the refinery were gasoline accounted for. Fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel. CITGO 459,800 bpd Gasoline, diesel, jet Lake Charles, Louisiana September A flash fire occurred fuel, lubricants, and 22 and affected four petrochemicals contract workers. Refinery operations remain normal and uninterrupted July 11 A lightning strike started a fire at a storage tank. All other parts of the refinery are operating normally. Phillips 66 258,000 bpd Produces a high Linden, New Jersey August 14 An ancillary piece of percentage of equipment of the transportation fuels, refinery's Fluid as well as Catalytic Cracking petrochemical unit caught fire and feedstocks, residual led to the production fuel oil and home outage. heating oil Chevron 356,440 bpd Mainly manufactures Pascagoula, Mississippi July 15 An incident at the motor gasoline, jet refinery’s wastewater fuel, and diesel fuel. treatment led to the Other products include fire and four workers fuel oils such as were injured. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), aviation gasoline, petroleum coke and sulfur Marathon 631,000 bpd Gasoline, distillates, Galveston Bay, Texas June 14 Production was cut Petroleum Corp aromatics, heavy fuel back on the oil, dry gas, gasoline-producing fuel-grade coke, 140,000 bpd fluidic refinery-grade catalytic cracker 3 propylene, (FCC-3) and the chemical-grade 115,000 cat feed propylene and sulfur hydrotreater due to the fire. No injuries reported, and all personnel were accounted for. Hunt Refining 50,000 bpd Gasoline, diesel fuel, Tuscaloosa, Alabama May 7 A fire broke out at jet fuel, and asphalt the refinery's coker unit following an external power outage, prompting the company to operate at reduced rates. Valero Energy 145,000 bpd Processes sour crude Benicia, California May 5 A fire broke out at oils into gasoline, the refinery, causing diesel, jet fuel and damage to its asphalt 77,000-bpd fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit. All personnel accounted for, and no injuries were reported. According to the company's website, the refinery employs more than 400 people. PBF Energy 156,400 bpd Gasoline, diesel fuel, Martinez, California April 3 A portable generator jet fuel, at the refinery intermediates, caught fire while petroleum coke, LPG, being refueled by a sulfur contract worker, who was transported off-site for medical evaluation and treatment. Phillips 66 138,700 bpd Gasoline, diesel, Los Angeles, California March 18 The fire was quickly aviation fuel and isolated and fuel-grade petroleum extinguished, coke operations were not impacted, and all personnel were accounted for. According to the company's website, approximately 600 employees are on-site PBF Energy 156,400 bpd Gasoline, diesel fuel, Martinez, California February 1 A fire broke out near jet fuel, the 77,500-bpd cat intermediates, feed hydrotreater, petroleum coke, LPG, impacting operations. sulfur Partial production resumed on July 31, while the full restart of the remaining units is planned by the end of 2025 CVR Energy 132,000 bpd Gasoline, diesel fuel, Coffeyville, Kansas January 21 A fire broke out in jet fuel, petroleum the naphtha coke, LPG, sulfur. Also hydrotreater unit, features an adjacent and all employees nitrogen fertilizer have been accounted plant for. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru.Editing by Mark Potter)

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