Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) shares rose nearly 2% in early trade on Friday after GE Aerospace delivered three F404-IN20 engines in August, taking total deliveries for the Tejas Mk1A programme to 10. Engine supply had been a key bottleneck for the project. Goldman Sachs maintained its Buy rating on HAL with a target price of 5,870 rupees. The Indian Air Force has ordered 180 LCA Mk1A jets from HAL, while GE is required to deliver 99 engines under a 2021 contract.

Asian equities advanced on Friday in line with a global rally as investors awaited key U.S. jobs data. Comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller helped ease rate-hike concerns, pulling U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar lower, according to Reuters. The yen strengthened 2.6% for the week to around 155.7 per dollar, while markets trimmed the implied probability of a rate increase at this month’s meeting to 50% from about 63%.

New York raw sugar futures retreated sharply from a 17-month high, falling as much as 4.8% intraday for the biggest drop since May. Prices had surged more than 21% last month after India allowed up to 1 million tons of duty-free raw sugar imports, stoking concerns about tight supply. But softer domestic prices in India have damped expectations for overseas purchases, with Rabobank estimating actual imports at 500,000 to 600,000 tons.

Australia’s supermarket giant Coles has confirmed it will not renew its contract with Palantir beyond 2027. The partnership, signed in early 2024, gave Palantir access to more than 10 billion rows of operational data. The decision followed pressure from a consumer privacy campaign that gathered more than 85,000 signatures and placed advertising outside close to 700 stores.

APA Group reported FY26 results with underlying EBITDA up 8.3% year on year, free cash flow up 3.2% and statutory net profit surging 81.4%. The company also guided FY27 underlying EBITDA of A$2,260 million to A$2,340 million, above FY26. However, the average broker target price is A$9.65 versus the current A$10.94 share price, implying about 12% downside.

Vale has scrapped plans for an initial public offering of its critical minerals subsidiary, Vale Base Metals (VBM), people familiar with the matter said. The decision was driven in part by opposition from the Brazilian government, which does not want to cede control of strategic mining assets. VBM was carved out from Vale in 2023 as a standalone unit ahead of a planned listing. Vale owns 90% of VBM, while Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals bought a 10% stake for roughly US$2.5 billion in 2024.

Grain is piling up in barns across southern Ukraine, but drone strikes and attacks on Black Sea ports have sharply curtailed shipments. Exports in August fell to about 20% of normal levels, while Russia’s grain exports also sank to a 10year low, according to The New York Times. The disruption is tightening global supply and raising the risk of worsening food shortages.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support keeping rates steady if data show inflation pressures are easing. After his remarks, markets cut the implied chance of a September rate hike to 50.4% from 63.2%. Economic data were broadly upbeat, with jobless claims low and the services sector accelerating. The Dow closed up 624.16 points, or 1.18%, at 53,686.11.