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

0318 GMT - The Malaysian oil and gas sector-related exposure should continue to attract investors as Middle East disruptions are expected to persist through year-end, Kenanga Investment Bank analyst Peter Kong and his team say in a note. While higher interest rates, partly driven by higher energy prices, may weigh on technology and other rate-sensitive sectors, oil and gas-related stocks could benefit from Middle East disruptions. Shipping company MISC is Kenanga's preferred stock. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0308 GMT - The Indonesian auto market's recovery suggests resilient vehicle demand despite continuing macro uncertainties, which supports Maybank Sekuritas Indonesia's constructive view on the sector. Car sales rose 1% on month in August and notched the strongest monthly volume recorded so far in 2026, she says. Improving consumer confidence, manageable financing conditions and growing electric-vehicle adoption should support industry volumes into 2H, says analyst Paulina Margareta in a note. However, incumbent manufacturers face increasing pressure to defend market share from aggressive Chinese competitors, she says. Conglomerate Astra International, which also sells vehicles, is likely to focus on maintaining its market leadership amid accelerating EV penetration and evolving competitive dynamics, she says. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0251 GMT - Markets risk overinterpreting the tone of Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's press conference after its meeting, says BlackRock Investment Institute's Jean Boivin in a note. The Fed helped reestablish the new chairman's credibility with its decision to hike rates, Boivin says. He notes the emphasis on the strength of the U.S. economy was a notable feature of the post-decision press conference, which markets interpreted as hawkish. The head of the BlackRock Investment Institute notes--against the backdrop of stronger economic growth--the rate hike may not be bad news for risk assets. "We think it is important to distinguish the need to safeguard the Fed's credibility from the start of a sustained hiking cycle," says Boivin. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0219 GMT - Malaysia's construction demand could remain supported by committed data-center investments, though the surge in Brent crude prices raises the risk of margin pressure, AmInvestment Bank's Tan Wai Wern says in a note. The analyst prefers contractors with cost-recovery provisions, shorter project durations and stronger balance sheets to manage higher input costs. He expects data centers to experience continued demand due to enterprise cloud migration, data storage and AI services, limiting the near-term impact from any slowdown in frontier AI development. The sector could also benefit from the 2027 budget due Oct. 9 if government allocations provide clearer infrastructure project timelines, he adds. AmInvestment Bank maintains an overweight rating on the Malaysian construction sector, with Sunway Construction as its preferred large-cap pick. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0220 GMT - Hyundai Mobis remains attractive despite earnings pressure from the won's appreciation, Daiwa Capital's Henny Jung and Yoonki Bae say. The analysts view the South Korean auto-component supplier as "the primary hardware foundation for Hyundai Motor Group's physical artificial-intelligence initiative." Hyundai Mobis is positioned to generate revenue from robotics by developing high-precision actuators for the Atlas humanoid robots of robotics subsidiary Boston Dynamics, they note. The company is also providing the scalable hardware framework needed to integrate software-defined vehicle controllers for its parent auto group. To reflect the won's strength and higher raw-material costs, Daiwa lowers its 2026-2027 earnings forecasts for the stock and trims its target price to 560,000 won from 580,000 won but maintains a buy rating. Shares are 0.5% lower at 381,000 won.(kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0219 GMT - Earnings at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and other major Japanese shipping companies are likely to benefit from continued disruption in the Middle East, Jefferies analysts say in a note. Tanker markets remain exceptionally strong, supported by rerouting demand and constrained effective supply, they say. The outage of a critical oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia adds another layer of uncertainty to already tight tanker markets, the U.S. bank says. Meanwhile, containership markets also remain firmer than expected, benefiting from disruption in the Red Sea, congestion and resilient demand, the bank says. Jefferies raises its target price on Mitsui O.S.K. Lines to 9,400 yen from Y8,600 and maintains a buy rating. Shares are up 2.4% at Y7,322. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

0219 GMT - Malaysia's construction demand could remain supported by committed data-center investments, though the surge in Brent crude prices raises the risk of margin pressure, AmInvestment Bank's Tan Wai Wern says in a note. The analyst prefers contractors with cost-recovery provisions, shorter project durations and stronger balance sheets to manage higher input costs. He expects data centers to experience continued demand due to enterprise cloud migration, data storage and AI services, limiting the near-term impact from any slowdown in frontier AI development. The sector could also benefit from the 2027 budget due Oct. 9 if government allocations provide clearer infrastructure project timelines, he adds. AmInvestment Bank maintains an overweight rating on the Malaysian construction sector, with Sunway Construction as its preferred large-cap pick. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0216 GMT - If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates as markets project--more than three hikes by the middle of next year--rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan will narrow little under the current policy path priced in for the Bank of Japan, says Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities strategist Keisuke Tsuruta. The wide rate gap has been a major driver of the yen's weakness. Investors are likely to stay sensitive to the possibility of faster BOJ tightening, given that some board members have pointed to global monetary shifts when considering Japan's own policy, he says. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds was last down 0.5 bp at 2.990%. (megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com)

0159 GMT - Morgan Stanley analysts remain watchful for any signs of deteriorating credit quality across construction and property following a large Sydney developer's entry into a form of bankruptcy protection. MS analysts tell clients in a note that Bathla's voluntary administration poses limited direct risk to Australia's major banks, but warn that second-order impacts could emerge through stress to small and medium-size enterprises, tighter funding conditions, and weaker property valuations. History shows credit quality can deteriorate quickly, they add. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0143 GMT - YTL Power International's reservation of four additional Siemens Energy gas turbines gives it an advantage in bidding for new gas-fired projects, amid tight global supply and lead times exceeding five years, TA Securities analyst Hafriz Hezry says in a note. YTL Power and Ganda Power have now reserved seven SGT-9000HL units, supporting potential projects in Malaysia and the region with combined capacity of about 5.25GW. If fully deployed, the capacity could add an estimated 450 million ringgit-500 million ringgit to annual profit, he reckons. The projects could also add about 6.7 billion ringgit to equity value, which isn't reflected in current valuation, he adds. TA Securities maintains its buy rating on YTL Power International, keeps target price at 6.53 ringgit. Shares are 5.3% higher at 5.80 ringgit. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0135 GMT - Atlas Arteria's new bull at Macquarie sees value in the toll-road operator despite negative traffic trends. Raising their recommendation to outperform from neutral, an analyst at the investment bank tells clients in a note that the 2.2% drop in traffic for July and August was in line with expectations, given slowing manufacturing activity and soft consumer confidence. They concede that the operating environment in France is tough and that dividends will likely be lower in 2027, but point to several positives. They see only limited sensitivity to interest-rate moves, little value being ascribed to concession extensions, and an 8.7% yield. Macquarie trims its target price 3.1% to 4.75 Australian dollars. Shares are up 0.7% at A$4.47. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0128 GMT - Chinese manufacturers' expanding scale and deeper supply-chain integration are raising the competitive bar for Malaysian glove makers, Public Investment Bank analyst Hailey Chung says in a note. Intco Medical is increasingly setting the benchmark for pricing and operational efficiency. While recent increases in Chinese glove average selling prices have allowed Malaysian manufacturers to raise prices, their structural cost disadvantage continues to weigh on competitiveness. Specialty gloves could offer higher margins, but increasing competition may limit pricing power, she reckons. Malaysian players could face further market-share erosion if they continue to compete mainly on volume and price, highlighting the need for greater innovation and product differentiation to defend margins, she adds. Public IB downgrades the Malaysian rubber glove sector to underweight from neutral.