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

1159 ET - Alimentation Couche Tard thinks that divesting 2,000 convenience stores should make it easier to get the approval it needs to close a transaction with Japan's 7-Eleven parent Seven & i. On its website dedicated to the potential deal, Couche-Tard says it has identified U.S. divestitures to appease potential regulatory concerns. "Following this, in a joint process, we have solicited interest in the divestiture from a group of highly credible buyers," Couche-Tard says, and notes that it has received multiple indicative proposals. "We believe the actionable, strong and broad level of interest so far clearly demonstrates that we have several clear paths to consummate the required divestitures and complete the transaction," the company says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1154 ET - Piper Sandler analysts are optimistic about Advanced Micro Devices' long-term prospects. The chip maker said last week at its Advancing AI event that it can meet surging demand for artificial-intelligence hardware, showcasing upcoming product launches that aim to position the company as a realistic alternative to Nvidia. "We feel that while AMD is going through some near-term digestion and some unfortunate geopolitical events, the company appears to be well set to show growth starting 2H25, namely the Sept 25 quarter," Piper Sandler analysts write. "We expect major traction for the company starting Dec 25 quarter." The bank maintains its overweight rating and raises AMD's price target to $140 from $116.16. AMD shares rise 9.5% to $127.23. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1116 ET - London-listed gold miners trade down in late-afternoon European trade. Safe-haven demand for gold slipped as Iran signalled it would consider restarting talks over its nuclear program if the U.S. doesn't join Israel's attack. Gold futures are down 1.1% at $3,415.60 a troy ounce but the precious metal remains up 1.8% on week. Hochschild Mining shares trade down 5.6% while Endeavour Mining drops 3%. Gold and silver miner Fresnillo falls 1%.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

1112 ET - European energy stocks retreat in late afternoon European trade. Shares were up earlier in the session but followed oil lower after Iran signaled it would consider resuming talks over its nuclear program. Oil plunged more than 4% in afternoon trade as fears of a prolonged and escalating conflict between Israel and Iran ease. In London, BP trades down 1.3% while Shell falls 0.3%. France's TotalEnergies drops 0.8%, Austria's OMV is down 0.3% and Norway's Equinor falls 0.1%.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

1112 ET - U.S. stocks rise sharply, except for the S&P 500's Energy sector, as WSJ reports that Iran is willing to end hostilities and resume negotiations around its nuclear program. The sector was rising before the 9:53 a.m. ET WSJ report, which says Tehran has told Arab officials they would be open to returning to talks. Oil benchmarks are down 5% on the news, while the main U.S. stock indexes rise more than 1%. Among energy stocks, though, ConocoPhillips falls 2.3%, Occidental Petroleum is down 2.7% and EOG drops 2.6%. The S&P 500 Energy sector falls 0.6%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1106 ET - Roku's new partnership with Amazon allowing advertisers to buy Roku inventory through Amazon's demand-side platform, will give advertisers more comprehensive platform level data, and thus better targeting capabilities, JPMorgan says in a research note. The analysts say advertisers will have visibility into every channel on the Roku platform. At the same time, Roku won't be prevented from entering other advertising agreements. The partnership will go live during 4Q, meaning that some revenue will hit Roku's top line this year. However, the boost is likely to be a gradual ramp and not a step-function increase, the analysts say. Roku surges 10%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1059 ET - Warner Brothers Discovery will have greater flexibility to invigorate its studio business and make it more attractive amid plans to split itself up, BofA Securities analysts say in a research note. The media and entertainment company earlier this month disclosed plans to split into two standalone publicly traded companies, separating its HBO Max streaming service, movie studio and TV production business from its cable networks. The analysts view Warner Bros. Studio as the crown jewel of all studios in media, and see the split making it a more attractive target for other companies seeking scale. As for the linear cable business, they believe value creation opportunities remain underappreciated at current valuations and under the right structure despite existing challenges within the ecosystem. Shares rise 4.2% to $10.46. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1054 ET - Gold futures slide as safe-haven demand eases. Futures are down 1.1% at $3,415.60 a troy ounce, though the precious metal remains up 1.8% on week. Gold slid after Iran signaled it wants to de-escalate hostilities with Israel and restart talks over its nuclear program. Officials in Tehran told their Arab counterparts that they would be open to returning to negotiations as long as the U.S. doesn't join the attack. Gold had rallied on Friday following Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, followed by an Iranian counter strike. The countries continued to carry out air attacks on each other over the weekend. Still, gold's longer-term price trajectory remains tilted upwards on geopolitical tensions, long-term inflation concerns and continued central bank purchases, StoneX's Fawad Razaqzada says in a note. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

1031 ET - Dundee Precious Metals' acquisition of Adriatic Metals was a long-expected move, CIBC's Cosmos Chiu says. From Dundee's perspective, Chiu says, sitting on $763 million in cash at the end of 1Q with no debt, but a declining production profile, an acquisition was only a matter of time. Adriatic Metals, with production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, fits in well with Dundee's other assets in Bulgaria and Serbia, and adds more silver, lead, and zinc to the portfolio, Chiu says. Altogether, he says the acquisition is about 5% accretive to net asset value and about 15% accretive to forward cash flow.(adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0959 ET - Credit spreads could tighten further, making the credit valuation expensive, ING's Jeroen van den Broek and Timothy Rahill say in a note. However, the credit spreads are less likely to reach the tight levels recorded in early 2024, they say. Tighter credit spreads present an opportunity for investors to sell, "particularly so if relative value opportunities become even more limited," the strategists say. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0849 ET - Crude futures extend losses in afternoon trade after strikes between Israel and Iran escalated over the weekend, but left oil production and export facilities unaffected. Brent crude falls 1.6% to $73.03 a barrel, while WTI falls 1.8% to $71.68 a barrel after rising earlier in the session. "We expect oil prices to remain volatile with an upward trend for the next few weeks," says Vikas Dwivedi, global energy strategist at Macquarie. Meanwhile, OPEC trimmed next year's forecast for oil supply growth for producers outside the wider OPEC+ group. It left its global oil demand and economic growth projections stable. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0842 ET - Oppenheimer says its outperform rating and $123 price target for Sarepta Therapeutics are under review following a second death in connection with the company's Elevidys medication for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The analysts say in a report that "while the first death appeared idiosyncratic, a correlation seems to be emerging between ambulatory status/dose and adverse outcomes which we need to learn about." The analysts add that they see the possibility of Sarepta further reducing FY25 guidance and outlook for Elevidys "considering the existing challenges it has been tackling already, such as administrative delays and reaching additional sites." Sarepta dives 36% to $23.01 premarket. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2025 11:59 ET (15:59 GMT)

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