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

0944 ET - GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen says in an interview on CNBC that he has not yet spoken with eBay's management about GameStop's acquisition bid. "You're dealing with a company that's very entrenched," he says. "It's survival. They'll do whatever they can to protect themselves." He says GameStop went public with its bid rather than pursue negotiations privately. "There's all kinds of perverse financial incentives from the board to the management team, so there's only one way to approach something like this," he says. Ebay is up 5% in early trading. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

0939 ET - GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen says in an interview on CNBC that he could run eBay far better than current management. He says eBay has an opportunity to grow much faster and become far more efficient. "When a business is not growing users and spending $2.5 billion in sales and marketing, there's a lot of fat to cut," he says, adding that eBay could double its earnings in a short period of time. "If I was running the business it would be making a lot more money," he says. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

0922 ET - The Reserve Bank of Australia is largely expected to raise interest rates in a decision Tuesday, but investors should be cautious as it's not a done deal, Commerzbank's Volkmar Baur says in a note. "The RBA has already raised rates twice, and as we know, it takes time for such a hike to have an impact on the real economy," Baur says. Inflation is well above target, but March inflation was "slightly lower than feared." Moreover, at the last RBA meeting, five monetary policy committee members voted to raise rates, while four favored leaving them on hold, Baur says. Money markets price an 82% chance of a rate hike Tuesday, LSEG data show. The Australian dollar falls 0.2% to $0.7187. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)

0830 ET - EBay says that it will carefully review and consider GameStop's acquisition bid. "The Board will review this proposal with a focus on the value to be delivered to eBay shareholders, including the value of the GameStop stock consideration and the ability of GameStop to deliver a binding, actionable proposal," eBay says. "Until the Board has further carefully and thoroughly considered the proposal, the company does not intend to comment further at this time." GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen made an unsolicited offer to buy eBay for about $56 billion. Cohen told WSJ Sunday that GameStop built a roughly 5% stake in eBay and was offering $125 a share in cash and stock, a roughly 20% premium to its closing price on Friday. Ebay is up 7.4% premarket. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

0758 ET - Norwegian Cruise Line reports fuel expenses of $169 million during the latest quarter. Price per metric ton, net of hedges, decreased to $651 during the period, from $687 a year ago, the cruise operator says. Prices are projected to climb moving forward, though, as oil prices have surged in response to the war in the Middle East. Norwegian guides for fuel price of $860 per metric ton, net of hedges, in the current quarter. For the full year, the company raises its outlook for fuel price per metric ton, net of hedges, to $782, compared with a prior view for $670. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0758 ET - Norwegian Cruise Line 1Q earnings beat is overshadowed by its cut to FY26 guidance, which was lower than Wall Street expected, Jefferies analysts say in a research note. "Further, the shorter Caribbean itineraries had a meaningful impact on results," the analysts add, noting revenue per passenger was down 15% from last year. They will be looking for commentary around the demand environment during the call, as well as thoughts around the outlook cut. "We see the guidance reduction as a potential clearing event," the analysts say, "with management execution now doubly important to return Norwegian Cruise Line to a positive earnings cadence." Norwegian Cruise Line slides 6% premarket. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0716 ET - Oil prices extend gains in afternoon trading, with Brent crude for July delivery up 3.7% to $112.14 a barrel, while WTI futures for June delivery rise 3.6% to $105.62 a barrel. "Crude futures are waking up to protracted Strait of Hormuz closure," according to Sparta Commodities. "The chances for a strong rebound in transits still seem remote. Chances for conflict escalation are growing." Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command denied claims that a U.S. warship was hit by Iran. "The Iranian state media claims that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a U.S. warship with two missiles," Centcom says in a post on X. "No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports." Project Freedom is a new U.S. initiative to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.(giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0640 ET - DNB Carnegie expects Norges Bank to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4.00% this week, but says a 25 basis point rate hike is almost as likely. The case for an unchanged rate rests on the March rate path pointing more clearly to June than May, and the development in short-term indicators, it says. On the other hand, DNB Carnegie says that if Norges Bank is already aiming for a higher policy rate, the question is why wait? Moreover, energy prices have remained elevated and have even moved higher since March. "Despite a temporary tax cut on fuel, the risk for building inflation pressure remains or has even increased." (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0618 ET - Palm oil closed higher, tracking gains in the crude oil and soybean oil market, according to David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Prices are supported by expectations of another month of lower stocks, Ng says. He sees prices of palm oil supported above 4,550 ringgit a ton and faces resistance at 4,680 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for July delivery rose 50 ringgit to 4,620 ringgit a ton. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0604 ET - Despite improvement in recent years, Spain's workforce faces mounting demographic challenges, Miguel Cardoso at BBVA says in a note. Strength in the labor market has been driven by economic momentum, increased participation among women and higher immigration. But an ageing population could offset these improvements, Cardoso says. While labor participation has increased, this is likely to be temporary, he says. "As a larger percentage of the population approaches retirement age, labor force participation is declining." The underlying trend is one of stagnation--and excluding immigration, decline, Cardoso says. To avoid this, policymakers should focus on reducing barriers to participation among women, promote longer and more productive working lives, and better integrate immigrants into the workforce, he says. (don.forbes@wsj.com)

0548 ET - Polish insurer PZU's decision to snap up Ukrainian life-insurance group MetLife Ukraine is understandable, Citi's Andrzej Powierza writes in a note to investors. PZU said Monday it is acquiring 100% of MetLife Ukraine shares, noting the latter's nearly 50% share of its country's life-insurance market and the relative resilience of Ukraine's war economy. "We understand PZU's logic to consolidate its position in Ukraine by buying the market leader in life insurance," Powierza says, though he notes that PZU didn't set out the deal's financial terms. Shares in PZU trade 0.6% higher at 64 zloty. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)

0540 ET - Concerns are growing over the dynamism of the European economy, say Governor Pierre Wunsch and economist Geert Langenus at the National Bank of Belgium. Rising economic competition from both the U.S. and China, as well as a declining international rules-based order, mean Europe must adapt, they say. "Europe needs a greater sense of geopolitical realism and must find its way in a changing world, one based on power plays rather than shared rules." While many Europeans prefer a focus on economic redistribution and lower social risk, this will limit growth amid a new geopolitical reality, the officials say. "Due to Europe's more conservative policies and low-risk mindset, it consistently lags behind in fast-moving tech industries." To remain competitive, the EU must rethink its model and accept difficult policy trade-offs, they say. (don.forbes@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2026 09:44 ET (13:44 GMT)

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