Market Talks covering the impact of U.S. Politics and White House policies on companies and markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1411 ET - U.S. consumers were forecast to be a little more upbeat than the University of Michigan sentiment index showed, considering positive economic indicators, Ameriprise's Russell Price says. "People are still very concerned about what may come," he says after the index failed to move up, as he expected. "With high tariffs on goods from China...people are still worried," about prices, he says. "We haven't really seen any of [the tariffs] really implemented to any significant degree as of yet, so the price hikes are still coming." (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1314 ET - Emirates Global Aluminum plans to build a primary aluminum smelter outside of Tulsa, the company announced with a memorandum of understanding signed with the state of Oklahoma. If completed, it would be the first aluminum smelter opened in the U.S. in 45 years, Emirates says. The announcement is part of $200 billion of investments by the United Arab Emirates announced by the White House yesterday. This investment is valued at $4 billion. EGA is a joint venture between two government entities in the Middle East, and is among the biggest producers of primary aluminum globally. Tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration are in part meant to reinvigorate domestic aluminum in the U.S., with companies like Century Aluminum Co. and Alcoa struggling to keep their older primary smelters open. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1212 ET - Business leaders in France fear what President Trump will eventually deliver in terms of tariffs and that has caused French companies to go into "pause mode," says Fabrice Le Saché, vice-president of one of Medef, a leading federation representing French employers. "It's one thing to try to deal with 10% tariffs," says Le Saché, during a panel in Ottawa at the B7 summit, or a gathering of top business leaders from the Group of Seven economies. "But it's another thing to say, 'You will have tariffs at some point.'" He says business and political leaders need to learn why their citizens have lost faith in free trade, and work to allay those concerns. "We need to solve why so many states are imposing tariffs and nontariff barriers." (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)

1204 ET - Tariffs are weighing on consumer sentiment, even if there's yet to be any direct impact, says Flowers Foods CEO Ryals McMullian. "That pressure, combined with widening price gaps, has driven more consumers to choose eating at home," he adds on an earnings call. "Any tangible inflationary impact from tariffs could further this move." McMullian notes that within stores, consumers are allocating more of their budget to items including proteins, produce and dairy and away from ones like bakery, alcohol and snacks. "Looking closer at the bread category, it remains bifurcated with relative strength and premium and private label products, while the middle price portion of the category is weak," McMullian says. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1135 ET - Industrial metal futures like aluminum and copper make progress recuperating losses that followed President Trump's 'Liberation Day' on April 2. Aluminum prices are now back to the level they were trading at directly before Trump announced his tariffs on countries including China, Vietnam, and a host of other nations. According to FactSet data, the LME continuous contract for aluminum has risen over 9% since finding a year-low of $2,277.42 per metric ton on April 9 - when Trump announced that these tariffs were paused for 90 days. U.S.-China negotiations have been supporting aluminum, but production continues to be focused in China -- with most analysts doubting any major shift in global aluminum production, says Commerzbank in a note. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1057 ET - Applied Materials' results and guidance were in-line, but JPMorgan is scaling back estimates. "We are lowering our FY/CY25 revenue/EPS estimates as we account for a weaker 2H demand profile driven by tariff/trade related dynamics for the overall semi/semicap industry," say analysts Harlan Sur and Peter Peng. The semiconductor-equipment company suggested it's not seeing any pull-forward of demand from future quarters due to tariff-led/trade dynamics nor have customers forecasts changed meaningfully, they add. Applied Materials slides 7%. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1054 ET - Policy uncertainty is weighing on U.S. consumer sentiment, SignatureFD's Tony Welch says. The University of Michigan May preliminary consumer sentiment index was unchanged at 50.8, missing consensus forecast of 53.5 in a WSJ survey. Welch says sentiment could improve if Trump's trade policy becomes more clear, the Fed starts to cut interest rates and Congress approves a tax bill "all in a pretty short order." He notes that economic indicators still show soft inflation and resilient job creation. The disconnect "can only last for so long," and if policy uncertainty lingers on, indicators "could start catching down," Welch says. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

0956 ET - Boot Barn, Birkenstock and On Holding reported this week, all indicating they had room to grow despite tariff fears pressuring their stocks in April. Jefferies analysts say in a note that On's reported strong balance across wholesale and direct-to-consumer signals growth is still in the early stages, the analysts say. Birkenstock is well-run and has room to expand because it's investing in whitespace opportunities such as closed-toe shoes, they say. Boot Barn managed to keep its guidance relatively in line with Wall Street expectations despite factoring in new tariffs costs, making the analysts optimistic it can gain or maintain market share. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0847 ET - Apple, having managed much of its supply chain disruption from the tariff war, can now focus on unveiling an AI strategy roadmap that will lead to "a renaissance of growth," Wedbush analysts say in a research note. The tech giant is expected to announce Alibaba as its AI partner in China prior to Apple's developer's conference in June, the analysts say. "This would lay the groundwork for a global AI strategy to take place over the next year with China a key piece of the growth puzzle," the analysts say. At the conference, investors should hear more about Apple's planned features and rollout of more Apple Intelligence, they say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0822 ET - Apple has adopted a very hedged supply chain strategy with iPhone 17 production this fall and could ramp assembly production in India up to 60% to 65%, though it may pivot back to China depending on how the tariff fight plays out, Wedbush analysts say in a research note. The push toward India production has been a smart strategic move given the uncertain tariff environment around China, the analysts say. The Trump administration will probably keep putting pressure on Apple to build iPhones in the U.S., but that would hike iPhone prices up to a non-starter range of about $3,500, they say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0748 ET - Bitcoin rises marginally as investor sentiment is broadly constructive but the cryptocurrency sector appears to be looking for a new catalyst to push prices meaningfully higher, Trade Nation analyst David Morrison says in a note. "The tone remains cautiously optimistic as traders continually assess the broader risk backdrop." Bitcoin is stuck in a range of $101,000 to $105,000 following its recent rally from lows reached in April. The cryptocurrency rises 0.2% to $103,702, according to LSEG. It reached a three-and-a-half-month high of $105,716 Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily lower tariffs, recovering from the April low of $74,445. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0625 ET - Switzerland's economy was on a tear before the trade-tariff shock hit, though that shouldn't persuade the Swiss National Bank to pare back its rate-cutting cycle, Pantheon Macroeconomics economists Claus Vistesen and Melanie Debono say in a note. Swiss GDP grew 0.7% on quarter in the first three months of the year, though that growth is unlikely to stoke inflation, which is currently at zero. Indeed, growth is slowing, with first-quarter growth in industry spurred by front-running the threat of tariffs. "Growth is now slowing and will fall below zero in early 2H, though we still think Switzerland will outperform the eurozone," the economists say. The SNB will likely cut again in June, taking rates into negative territory, they add. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 16, 2025 14:11 ET (18:11 GMT)

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