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

1034 ET - BCE's medium-term prospects for AI buildout are "very encouraging," says TD Cowen's Vince Valentini. The analyst says "BCE expects to have the full incremental 900 MW of DC capacity (taking the Saskatchewan total to 1.2 GW) operational well within 10 years." Because the project remains a nonbinding MOU without locked-in customer contracts or power commitments, BCE hasn't updated its official 2028 guidance. However, Valentini calculates that its data center segment could account for C$10.08 a share, or 12% of BCE's target enterprise value. TD raises its target price by C$3 to C$40. BCE is up 1% to C$32.47. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1006 ET - San Antonio is the most popular migration destination for Gen Zers, Redfin says. Houston is the hottest spot for millennial movers. Gen Zers are gravitating toward Washington, D.C. and Nashville--metros with plenty of job opportunities, along with lively social scenes. Millennials favor metro areas like Dallas and Baltimore--places that can offer more affordable housing. One thing the generations have in common: New York and Los Angeles are among the places they're most commonly leaving. Affordability is part of the story in pricey New York and Los Angeles, but Gen Z migration isn't purely about housing costs. Moves among young adults are also heavily influenced by college, first jobs and the transition from school into the workforce. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1003 ET - Oppenheimer analysts are looking more favorably on Etsy as they see the ecommerce platform's product improvements working. In a recent survey of U.S. consumers, about a quarter of Etsy buyers indicated better search, product selection or item descriptions on the platform, and a majority say they go directly to the company's website or app versus Google, the analysts say. The results suggest Etsy has a strong competitive moat and is less dependent on Google search, they say. Still, while Etsy's broad product improvements are clear, reactivating and adding new buyers is still tough, they say. The analysts upgrade the stock to outperform from perform and establish a $90 price target. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0956 ET - Tilak Mandadi, chief experience and technology officer at CVS Health, says he has a "serious allergy" to the growing trend of companies appointing chief AI officers. "The problem with associating a person with a technology is that that technology suddenly becomes the solution for everything, because their bonus depends on the adoption of that technology," he says at the WSJ Technology Council Summit. Mandadi says companies should have C-suite roles that prioritize outcomes, instead. That would allow executives to consider a range of tools and strategies, before deciding on which can best achieve the desired effect, he says. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0950 ET - FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam says he doesn't think any company can succeed in AI if its top executive doesn't take an active role in shaping the technology. "You can't have a business strategy without technology, and the reverse is also the case," Subramaniam says at the WSJ Technology Council Summit. "And AI is the defining technology of the era, so the CEO has to drive it." (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0937 ET - Investors prefer companies to use their cash flow to improve their financial positions, according to 38% of respondents in the Bank of America global fund manager survey for September. A total of 33% of respondents would like companies to return cash to shareholders and 19% would like firms to improve capital spending, the survey shows. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0907 ET - WPP is likely to keep the Coca-Cola account now that Publicis has PepsiCo, Berenberg analysts Anna Patrice and Davide Amorim write. New business was a standout key performance indicator at the advertising firm's recent sales briefing, they say. Earlier this month WPP reported a smaller-than-forecast drop in like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs for the first half year and said account wins and retentions with existing clients were boosting momentum across the business. "Pitch momentum is improving, and most of the pipeline now involves integrated solutions rather than defensive retention," the analysts say. Berenberg has a buy rating on the stock and 470 pence target price. Shares are down 0.3% at 384.90 pence, but up 14% over the year to date. (ian.walker@wsj.com)

0905 ET - While on stage at a tech summit, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang puts President Trump on speakerphone, giving the president a chance to push back on recent safety concerns over AI. "It's all a hoax," Trump says. Trump defends AI and data centers as an economic driver for the U.S., forecasting that AI will be "the oil of the next 20-25 years--it's bigger than the internet." Huang, who has said that the AI warnings are aimed at boosting business for cybersecurity firms, tells Trump he agrees with his views. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0830 ET - The EU's proposal to revamp its public contracts rules marks a "paradigm shift" away from procurement policy principles since the Maastricht Treaty--a foundational accord for the bloc, according to Luca Picotti, a lawyer, author and fellow at Italian foreign investment research group Osservatorio Golden Power. Under the plans, public bodies would put a greater focus on factors such as sustainability, security and European preference when selecting a bid. It also highlights that they can exclude some bids from non-EU countries that lack reciprocal procurement agreements with the bloc. "What we are seeing is an unprecedented emphasis on risks such as excessive supply-chain dependency or the interference of third-country legislation requiring the disclosure or transfer of information," he says. (edith.hancock@wsj.com)

0759 ET - Bitcoin falls as expectations for a U.S. interest-rate rise weigh on risk sentiment and as investors await a pivotal U.S. Senate procedural vote on cryptocurrency legislation. Money market pricing shows a 91% chance of a 25 basis points rate rise by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, according to LSEG. The vote on the Clarity Act, which would establish a broad regulatory framework for digital assets, will be held later in the day. "Chances of approval remain split, with a likely failure potentially triggering a significant downleg in cryptos," XM analyst Achilleas Georgolopoulos says in a note. "Specifically for bitcoin, the sizeable August price gains could be under threat." Bitcoin drops 2.8% to $76,896, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0749 ET - A total of 79% of fund managers polled in Bank of America's global fund manager survey for September say they don't expect any of the AI companies to announce a cut in capital expenditure this year. This is up from 71% of fund managers in the August survey. Only 14% of respondents said they expect an AI capex reduction this year, BofA says. The survey was conducted between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, before Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk, chief executives at massive AI companies, called for a slowdown in AI development. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0747 ET - Inflation expectations reversed in September, with investors anticipating lower instead of higher global consumer prices over the next 12 months, according to the latest Bank of America global fund manager survey. A net 4% of investors expect global inflation to ease, flipping from a net 3% expecting higher inflation in August.