The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1016 GMT - Norges Bank's rate decision on Thursday is highly uncertain, but a hike remains the most likely outcome, Handelsbanken's Norway chief economist Marius Gonsholt Hov writes. Views are divided on whether the key policy rate will be raised, but Handelsbanken leans towards an increase to 4.50%, which would be in line with the signals from Norges Bank's June report, it says. While core inflation has been lower than Norges Bank expected over the past three months, wage growth remains clearly too high. At the same time, international policy rate expectations have risen considerably, he adds. The new rate path will probably be revised slightly lower at the short end, but somewhat higher a bit further out, the bank says. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

1015 GMT - Adyen's appointment of a new chief financial officer clears up uncertainty, ING's Thymen Rundberg writes in a note. The Amsterdam-based payments provider named Niclas Neglen, who joins from online-payments company Klarna, as its next finance chief. "The appointment removes uncertainty around the permanent CFO position following the departure of Ethan Tandowsky earlier this year," Rundberg says. Additionally, Neglen appears to be a solid fit given his previous experience, particularly in his recent role as CFO at Klarna. Shares are down 1.7% at 887.20 euros. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

1013 GMT - AB InBev can meet its earnings goals over the medium term through rising sales and a higher price mix, analysts at J.P. Morgan write in a note. The world's largest brewer, maker of Bud Light and Stella Artois, is aiming for 4%-8% organic increases a year in its Ebitda, a goal it backed and detailed at an investor event this week. "We note a certain evolution in the algorithm," the analysts say, pointing to likely price rises in the group's labels ahead of average consumer-price inflation, which should support the Ebitda growth ambition. "We remain confident in AB InBev's ability to compound earnings." (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)

1000 GMT - Companies that sell software as a service need to embed artificial-intelligence agents in their products to succeed in the AI era, Clay Bavor, co-founder of AI startup Sierra, says at the HumanX AI conference in Amsterdam. "These days, if you aren't doing something agentic, you're nothing," he says. AI agents are meant to autonomously perform multiple tasks on users' behalf. Software stocks took a beating earlier this year after some investors started to question whether rapid advancements in AI could replace the services for which software-as-a-service, or SaaS, companies charge clients. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

0958 GMT - The AI trade has stalled as spending on tokens and chips falters, Fidelity's head of macro, Jurrien Timmer, writes on X. Investing in AI companies "has been dead money for more than three months," Timmer writes. Token expenditures--or the spending on AI computation--as well as the leasing of semiconductor chips are both flat or lower since June, according to Fidelity data. While AI could unleash a productivity boom, the buildout of the technology is currently inflationary, Timmer adds. The Nasdaq has gained 1.3% over the last three months, and closed at a new record Tuesday. Futures for the tech-heavy index are flat. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0942 GMT - Airtel Money's upcoming initial public offering might be less impressive than initially expected, AJ Bell's Dan Coatsworth writes in a note. The African digital financial services platform said it plans to list existing shares on the London Stock Exchange. While the IPO appears as a positive for London's market reputation, the company says it won't raise any new money at all from it. "There was speculation it would raise at least $800 million through the stock listing," he adds. Airtel Africa shares are up 0.3% at 3.13 pounds. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0941 GMT - Organizations that deploy artificial intelligence need to define their objectives to keep costs from the technology at bay, Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Agentic AI at Amazon Web Services, says at the HumanX AI conference in Amsterdam. "If you don't know precisely what is the return on investment you're after, what ends up happening is teams keep saying let's actually keep improving," he says. He compares the use of AI without a clear purpose to a vehicle going around a roundabout without knowing which exit to take. "You end up spending more fuel, or in the AI landscape, you end up spending more tokens and budget all the time," he notes. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

0938 GMT - Talks between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday won't deliver breakthrough on AI chips and rare earths, Jefferies analysts say. The Trump administration's plans for a Board of Trade to oversee a reduction in tariffs across a range of products is "the single most possible deliverable" from talks, the analysts say. On the U.S. side, Boeing aircraft and medical devices could benefit from talks, with the analysts taking encouragement from recent comments by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Agricultural and energy products could also benefit, they say. The two countries won't touch sectors of strategic importance, the analysts say. "We would not price in semiconductor or rare-earth relief." (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0922 GMT - A targeted U.S. diesel export restriction could provide some near-term relief to domestic fuel prices while avoiding the disruption of a complete export ban, says Michelle Brouhard from Kpler. Export controls would be more complicated to administer than a blanket ban, requiring Washington to determine and monitor volumes, licenses, exemptions and, potentially, destinations. At the same time, they would give policymakers greater flexibility over how many barrels remain in the U.S. and which foreign buyers retain access. According to Kpler, limiting exports by 500,000 barrels a day, rather than the full 1.2 million barrels a day, would leave more fuel in the U.S. market while allowing roughly 700,000 barrels a day to continue reaching overseas buyers. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0916 GMT - European stocks vulnerable to increasingly footloose customers extended losses Wednesday. Companies that benefit from sticky customers who don't leave for better alternatives fell sharply in the U.S. and Europe Tuesday. Investors grew concerned that Meta's AI-enabled Muse app and its peers "would disrupt businesses that have so far benefited from consumer inertia," Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya writes. Telecoms and insurance stocks extend losses Wednesday. Deutsche Telekom falls 1.2%, while Orange and Vodafone both lose around 1.7%. Insurers Allianz and Axa slip 1.4% and 0.5%, while financial advice group St James's Place drops 1% in London.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0915 GMT - AXA should achieve the upper end of its earnings per share target range, Berenberg's Michael Huttner writes. The French insurer's new higher underlying EPS growth target is credible, Berenberg says. It is driven by increased, but conservative, top-line growth targets, the analyst says. AXA targets 6% to 7% revenue growth from 2027 through 2029, despite being on track to achieve a 6% growth rate from 2024 through 2026 while reorganizing the business. Berenberg estimates AXA's underlying EPS annual growth will rise to an "attractive level" of 9.1% from 2027 through 2029, compared to the new 7% to 9% target range. Berenberg maintains a buy recommendation and 77 euro price target. Shares are down 0.4% at 43.72 euros. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0857 GMT - Investors are likely to welcome Anheuser-Busch InBev's growth ambitions, analysts at Berenberg write. The brewer behind Bud Light, Michelob and Stella Artois backed its midterm earnings-growth ambitions at an investor event this week, and detailed its plans to achieve that growth, including through investment in its biggest brands and chasing growth in other categories too. "AB InBev's ambition is to deliver consistent growth that can compound, which will in turn provide the group with more flexibility on capital allocation now that leverage is low," Berenberg says. "We expect this vision to be welcomed by investors."