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

1404 ET - August saw the average transaction price for a new vehicle in the U.S. move back above $50,000, to $50,089, according to Kelley Blue Book. It was the first time the ATP topped $50,000 since December. Prices were influenced by a richer mix of midsize SUV sales and higher prices for subcompact SUVs and compact cars, Kelley says. August also saw the ATP for electric vehicles decline to $54,813, 1.2% lower from the prior month and down 2.7% from August 2025. (stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com)

1359 ET - Transat may need to resort to fare cuts to keep its planes full amid a difficult operating environment. In a TD Cowen report, Tim James says "challenging market dynamics and capacity reallocations are pressuring yields more than expected," which could require "more aggressive pricing" to sustain passenger load factors on its planes. A larger-than-usual sequential drop in customer deposits he says suggests "challenging conditions should continue to pressure results through at least Q4/F26." James notes that results were further impacted by unexpected costs, inefficiencies, and revenue drags from eliminating operations in Cuba. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1217 ET - Bitcoin is down 1.6% to $77,095, dropping after posting a strong rally over the past three weeks. The cryptocurrency seems unable to stay above the $80K mark, which is now the major psychological threshold it needs to break in order to keep the rally going. The $80K mark is where a spring rally in bitcoin topped off at in early May. "Bulls want to see Bitcoin clear this zone, which could open the door to further upside," says Bret Kenwell of eToro in a note. Ethereum is down 1.3% to $2,440, XRP is down 3.5% to $1.35, and solana slides 3% to $99.49. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1201 ET - Groupe Dynamite's real estate strategy of having a presence in the best locations is paying off, says Chief Executive Andrew Lutfy on an earnings call. The executive says that the stores that he categorizes as 'tier 1 though tier 3' represents about 72% of the company's sales, noting that in 2017, it was roughly 28%. Lutfy says that the better-located stores move inventory at a faster clip than lower tier locations. Through this quality real estate strategy, he says "we aren't simply improving the quality of our stores, we are improving the productivity of the entire business." He expects that this will create a higher quality network which raises the performance standards across the broader portfolio. "It's a positive flywheel effect," Lutfy adds. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1149 ET - Canadian grocer Empire faces market share headwinds due to a smaller discount footprint relative to peers in an inflation-weary environment. In an earnings call, CEO Pierre St-Laurent says that the company has maintained its discount market position, but it is aggressively accelerating its format expansion to capture budget-conscious shoppers in the face of "the rapid expansion of discount formats across the market." He notes that in August, Empire opened its first FreshCo discount banner store in Atlantic Canada, alongside new locations in Calgary and Paris, Ontario. The company is also now planning to open 25 new stores in the year instead of 20. St-Laurent says: "as we continue to expand discount footprint, we expect that growth to increasingly support market share gains." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1126 ET -- Dubai leads most major Gulf stocks lower as escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities and attacks on Saudi Arabia keep regional risks elevated. The Dubai Financial Market General Index falls 0.4%, Qatar's QE Index declines 0.3% and Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index edges down 0.1%. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index bucks the trend, edging up 0.1%, with major constituent ADNOC Gas rising 0.6%. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz strengthens the case for ADNOC Gas to have export capacity on the U.A.E.'s east coast as the government considers ways to reduce reliance on the waterway, Barclays analyst Ramachandra Kamath says. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

1044 ET - Macy's says its shoppers have remained resilient, primarily in higher income cohorts. "Across nameplates, we continue to skew toward middle- and upper-income consumers, where performance remained stronger," Chief Executive Tony Spring says on a call with analysts. Lower-income consumers are more discerning about what they buy, which is in line with previous trends Macy's has reported, Spring says. The wealthier shoppers are responding to Macy's new assortment of products, which includes higher quality materials and more expensive brands, he says.(katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1040 ET - At the ECB's press conference, President Christine Lagarde didn't take opportunities to push back against elevated market expectations for interest rates and set a higher bar for further tightening, Pantheon Macroeconomics' Claus Vistesen says in a note. When asked whether 2.5% represents the upper end of neutral, Lagarde noted that the neutral rate is of "no great importance". "We now think the ECB will shift its policy rate more decisively into restrictive territory over the next six months," Vistesen says. He now expects a rate hike in December and another in February, before two cuts in September and December 2027. That effectively validates the market-implied path between now and March, but also that expectations for the end of 2027 remain much too high, he adds. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)

1038 ET - European energy producers and insurance companies are likely to benefit due to the elevated energy prices and the European Central Bank decision to increase interest rates, eToro's Lale Akoner says in a note. The ECB raised the deposit rate to 2.5% during Thursday's policy decision, as markets expected. Sectors that could be negatively affected by the rate increase include property, housebuilders, smaller companies, and retailers, she says. "Banks may benefit initially from wider lending margins, but that advantage will fade if loan demand weakens and defaults rise." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

1036 ET - Canadian grocer Empire's F1Q food sales came in a little soft as shoppers looked elsewhere for discounts in a challenging consumer environment. TD Cowen analyst Brian Morrison says the Sobeys parent's food same-store sales growth came in at 1.2%, below rival Loblaw's 1.8%. The analyst chalks it up to "modest share loss as consumer health remains a headwind given high fuel prices and uncertainty around tariffs/counter-tariffs." He says that this dynamic is likely pushing more consumers to the discount channel, where Empire is under-represented. He says that while management remains on track to deliver earnings growth near the high end of its algorithm, "underlying Retail growth remains modest." Empire is down 1% to C$47.37. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1030 ET - Macy's is staying relatively conservative with its outlook for same-store sales. The retailer raised guidance for same-store sales to grow 1% to 1.5%, up from its previous outlook of 0.5% to 1.2% growth. This guidance comes after Macy's had roughly 3% growth in the first two quarters of the year. The same-store sales metric was higher in the second half of last year, so the company will have to grow from a higher baseline in the next two quarters, executives tell analysts on a call. Staying prudent with the guidance will also give the company more room to deal with macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, management says.(katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1023 ET - Macy's has seen a slowdown in the share of shoppers who complete a purchase in their stores, as the company is putting pricier items on its shelf. Executives say on a call with analysts that conversion was lower in the second quarter, despite higher average unit revenue and greater traffic in stores. Macy's data shows that shoppers sometimes visit two or three times before buying an item because they deliberate more over buying a pricier item, the executives say. Macy's average selling prices have increased, as the company is bringing in higher-end products and previously raised prices following tariffs.