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

0759 GMT - The Hungarian forint should benefit if Hungary's central bank pauses interest rate cuts and lowers its inflation target in a decision at 1200 GMT, ING's Frantisek Taborsky says in a note. The central bank is expected to keep its policy rate at 5.50% and could reduce its inflation target to 2.0% from 3.0%, he says. This would signal tighter policy for longer and enhance the forint's appeal in carry trades where investors borrow in low yielding currencies to invest in higher yielding currencies, he says. "Still, the domestic story is having limited market impact, and a sustained rally in FX and fixed income is unlikely without some progress in the geopolitical situation." The euro rises 0.6% to 362.11 forints. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0756 GMT - Prudential PLC's robust Hong Kong momentum is set to continue, says DBS Group Research's Ken Shih in a note. This momentum is supported by increasing contribution from mainland Chinese employees in Hong Kong, the analyst says. The insurer also indicated that business activities in the mainland Chinese visitors segment remained steady from 1H, despite news regarding taxation on offshore insurance returns, the analyst notes. Meanwhile, the Chinese bancassurance segment is likely to see near-term adjustments on tighter expense rules, but its upbeat outlook remains, given a bancassurance partner's expansion into the high-net-worth wealth segment. DBS maintains its buy rating and 138.00 Hong Kong dollar target price on Prudential's Hong Kong-listed shares, which fall 1.0% to HK$101.60. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0748 GMT - The South African rand could suffer if the country's central bank raises interest rates on Wednesday but fails to signal further hikes, Commerzbank's Volkmar Baur says in a note. A 25bps rate rise is fully priced in, he says. The South African Reserve Bank held rates steady contrary to expectations in July when the Middle East conflict had just flared up again. The hope was that tensions would ease and oil prices fall back but that hasn't been the case in recent months, he says. "We would say that the SARB would likely be well advised not only to raise interest rates on Wednesday but also to adopt a hawkish tone." The dollar rises 0.3% to 16.2912 rand. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0743 GMT - EssilorLuxottica is expected to benefit from more durable smartglasses demand, analyst at RBC Capital Markets Piral Dadhania says in a research note. The Franco-Italian eyewear group has been under pressure from worries of new competition coming into the segment. EssilorLuxottica develops smartglasses in partnership with Meta. The stepdown in growth from last year's fourth-quarter peak reflects the natural evolution of the category, the analyst says. This goes from rollout of the product and early-adoption demand to a more durable long-term growth rate, he adds. While smartglasses remain a positive contributor to group growth, competition in this category should continue to (rise, Dadhania says. Shares fall 0.4%. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)

0745 GMT - Samsung Electronics' rapid expansion of high-bandwidth memory production could squeeze supplies of other general-purpose memory chips, KB Securities analysts say. The world's largest memory-chip maker is expected to allocate 33% of its total DRAM production capacity to higher-end HBM products for artificial-intelligence applications in 2026 and 40% in 2027, up from 27% in 2025, analysts led by Jeff Kim write in a note. By contrast, Samsung's general-purpose memory chips are likely to account for 65% of its total DRAM production capacity in 2026 and 59% in 2027, down from 73% in 2025, they note. Samsung's HBM4 products could account for about 80% of its total revenue next year, up from 40% this year, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0743 GMT - European energy stocks post slight gains in early morning trade as oil prices halt their decline. Risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remain elevated. A tanker entering the strait was struck by a projectile on Monday, according to U.K. Maritime Trade Operations. However, there remains some optimism that diplomatic efforts at the United Nations this week will help end the U.S. conflict with Iran. Brent crude futures are 1.3% higher at $101.64 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gains 1.3% to $97.00 a barrel. In London, Shell rises 0.8% while BP gains 0.5%. France's TotalEnergies and Norway's Equinor are around 1% higher, and Italy's Eni is up 0.8%. Spain's Repsol rises 0.6%.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

0740 GMT - Novo Nordisk's investor day underwhelmed on multiple fronts, relative to some of the more optimistic expectations heading into the event, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Papadakis writes. "Whilst the event provided both a helpful and thorough review of the business outlook as well as a strategic refresh, it was met with a fairly punishing market response." The bank says there was largely a reiteration of familiar strategic messaging and the mid-term building blocks, in addition to somewhat underwhelming mid-term guidance. There was also nothing of substance in terms of clinical data or assets, and little clarity on M&A even though it clearly remains on the agenda, Deutsche Bank adds. The bank lowers its stock target price to 245 Danish kroner from 265 kroner and retains its sell rating. Shares fall 0.6% to 258.50 kroner. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)The CAC 40 rose 0.05%. "European Stocks Mixed, Left Out of Tech Surge -- Market Talk," at 0722 GMT, misstated the name of the index.

0733 GMT - The key issue for energy markets is whether the current shock remains an inflationary force or starts to slow down activity, says Claudio Galimberti from Rystad Energy. "The Fed, the ECB and the Bank of Japan are all signaling they will not let energy-driven inflation become embedded in wages and prices," the chief economist says. "But raising rates adds a second restraint on growth through higher borrowing costs, bond yields and eventually weaker corporate earnings and household demand." Now, focus shifts to the Trump-Xi summit on Thursday, which could offer important clues on how quickly the market's supply deficit might widen or ease. Any signal on secondary sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil, or on whether China is prepared to adjust its purchases of Iranian crude, could materially alter the global supply outlook, Galimberti says. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0725 GMT - Smiths Group's results for fiscal 2026 beat expectations and the U.K. industrial-engineering company issued guidance for the year ahead that was possibly better than the market feared, particularly for its Flex-Tek business, Jefferies analysts say in a research note. "We suspect that the Flex-Tek outlook will be a positive surprise for many, as there are good drivers of growth in the division--data centers, aerospace--, a lack of destocking that impacted last year, positive pricing, and [management] is not assuming a U.S. construction recovery next year," the analysts say. For the group as a whole, Smiths guided for organic revenue growth of about 4% and a headline operating profit margin of around 21% in fiscal 2027, which compare with consensus forecasts of 3.9% and 21%, respectively, according to Jefferies. Shares rise 4.1%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0722 GMT - European stocks are mixed at the open as they struggle to replicate Monday's surge in U.S. stocks. Utilities and technologies gain while banks slide, with the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 rising 0.2%. London's FTSE 100 adds 0.1%, led by a 9% jump for home-improvement retailer Kingfisher after a guidance raise. In Paris, the CAC 40 edges up 0.05%. Gains for software and utilities stocks counter weakness in autos and luxuries. Renault falls 1.4%. Autos also fall in Frankfurt, as Germany's DAX is 0.1% lower. Mercedes-Benz loses 1.2%, while financial group Allianz drops 1.8%. Italy's FTSE MIB falls 0.3%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 is flat. The Dutch AEX adds 0.3%, led by a 3.4% jump for Prosus after management changes at the company. ASML climbs 0.3%. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com) Corrections & Amplifications

This market talk item was corrected at 0751 GMT. In Paris the CAC 40, not CAC 30 rose 0.05%.

0718 GMT - Shell's outlook is improved by high energy prices and the ARC Resources acquisition, Baader Helvea's Frederic Lorec writes. The British energy major agreed to buy Canadian energy producer ARC for about $13.6 billion in April. Baader increases its 2026 earnings per share forecast to $5.76 from $4.45, and its 2027 estimate to $5.57 from $4.48. The upwards revision is largely driven by higher oil price assumptions and additional barrels from ARC. Shares rise 0.6% to 3,511 pence.