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

0815 GMT - Diploma PLC is one of the safest growth names in the sector, RBC analyst Andrew Brooke writes as he upgrades its rating on the stock and lifts his target price, sending the shares to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard. Brooke believes consensus organic revenue growth forecasts can be beaten and sees positive EPS momentum from mergers and acquisitions. RBC raises its rating on the stock to outperform from underperform and target price to 60 pounds from 45 pounds. "We believe the valuation premium is warranted given the outstanding financial metrics and track record," Brooke says. Shares are up 3.1% at 54.20 pounds. (aimee.look@wsj.com)

0759 GMT - J.D. Wetherspoon continues to outperform a challenged U.K. pub market, even though the U.K. consumer backdrop remains fragile, Goodbody analyst Fintan Ryan says in a note. The London-listed pub chain will likely increase its prices during fiscal 2026 to offset rising costs, he adds. The company's fiscal 2025 results beat consensus, he says. Shares are down 3.5% at 6.42 pounds. (cristina.gallardo@wsj.com)

0748 GMT - Oil rises after a fire broke out at a large U.S. refinery, but is still set for a steep weekly loss on fears of an oversupplied market. Brent rises 0.8% to $64.62 a barrel, while WTI is up 0.9% to $61.03 a barrel. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office posted on X that the governor has been briefed on the incident at Chevron's El Segundo refinery and is working to ensure public safety. The site is one the largest producing refineries on the West Coast, processing more than 276,000 barrels of crude a day. Still, prices are down more than 6% this week, pressured by expectations that OPEC+ will return more oil to the market. "Brent has been relatively rangebound, closing between $65-$70 a barrel," BMI says. "As long as it remains in this range, OPEC+ will have cover to continue unwinding its cuts at a gradual pace." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0747 GMT - J.D. Wetherspoon delivered a decent set of full-year results, but there is limited reason for cheer when it comes to its outlook, says Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter. The pub chain faces increasing costs which in turn could continue boosting inflation, although Wetherspoon would rather not raise prices for consumers, the analyst says. The Covid-19 pandemic has left a mark on the company, which has 85 fewer pubs, he notes. Wetherspoon's profit has recovered, but its share price remains 60% below prepandemic levels, Hunter adds. "The overarching headwinds which the group still faces simply cannot be ignored, and the further slump of the shares at the open reflects this caution, with the market consensus of the shares as a hold also vulnerable to a downgrade," he says. Shares are down 3% at 6.45 pounds. (cristina.gallardo@wsj.com)

0746 GMT - Asia's exports growth could moderate in the near term because of U.S. tariffs and a slowdown in China's durable goods demand, Nomura analysts say in a research note. Asia's exports to the U.S. has turned to 3.7% on year decline in August from a 29.5% gain in 1Q, the analysts say. The region's exports to the U.S. from labor-intensive sectors under tariffs have declined the most, particularly textiles & apparel and footwear, they say. As the U.S. market becomes harder to access, Asian exporters are expanding more into the EU and Oceania, which partially offsets the decline in the U.S., the analysts note. "Over the medium term, the ability of Asian exporters to reorient supply chains and source for new buyers is key to fortifying export resilience," they say.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0745 GMT - China and Hong Kong equities have emerged as top performers, supported by renewed foreign investor interest, monetary easing, and a rotation from bonds into stocks, DBS analysts Samuel Tse and Chang Wei Liang say in a note. "As trade tensions and global fiscal concerns persist, investors are seeking alternatives to the USD and traditional developed market assets," they say, noting that the number of foreign institutions' regional headquarters in Hong Kong rose in 2023 after staying flat since 2018. China's central bank, aside from the cuts to the LPR and RRR in May,has continued injecting liquidity through open market, they add. Noting that investors with higher risk appetite took profits on long-end onshore bonds and rotated into equities as yields fell, DBS says long-end yields may see an upside bias, while short-end rates are seen to stay anchored (jason.chau@wsj.com)

0727 GMT - Shares of London-listed miners rise in opening trade as prices of precious and base metals move up. Gold and silver miner Fresnillo rises 3.4% as silver trades up 0.63% at $47.24 an ounce. Elsewhere, BHP's London shares and Anglo American trade up around 1.8%. Copper miner Antofagasta rises 1%. The miners are boosted by rising commodity prices. LME copper prices rises 1% to $10,481.5 a metric ton. LME zinc rises 0.8%, tin is up 2.5% and lead moves up 0.4%.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

0727 GMT - CNMC Goldmine Holdings' earnings are likely supported by macro tailwinds such as expectations of monetary easing and central banks' gold purchases, Phillip Securities Research's Liu Miaomiao says in a research report. The company's gold production is expected to outperform in 2H versus 1H thanks to 60% capacity expansion of its carbon-in-leach facility since March, the analyst says. Given surging gold prices and CNMC Goldmine's steady improvement in gold output, the brokerage lifts its 2025 forecast for the company's profit after tax and minority interests by 40%. It raises the stock's target price to S$1.34 from S$0.70 with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 0.9% higher at S$1.16. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0725 GMT - Malaysian gambling number forecast operators are expected to face challenging conditions in 2H as illegal lottery activity continues to eat into their market share, RHB IB analyst Lee Meng Horng says in a note. Lottery sales for Sports Toto and Magnum have normalized, with earnings momentum remaining highly sensitive to luck factor and potential policy shifts, he notes. Sports Toto's gaming sales could improve in coming quarter, supported by its recent MYR78 million jackpot and dividends may remain resilient, he adds. RHB maintains a neutral on the sector, pegging Sports Toto as its top pick for its attractive valuation and strong dividends. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0720 GMT - Bitcoin pulls back slightly after reaching a seven-week high in the previous session as a U.S. government shutdown persists. The cryptocurrency was propelled higher after U.S. stocks rallied overnight on the back of OpenAI's recent funding round that saw its valuation soar to $500 billion. Expectations for further interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year in the wake of Wednesday's weak ADP private payrolls data also boosted risk sentiment. However, an ongoing U.S. government shutdown means official data, including Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, will likely be delayed so the market is left with some uncertainty. Bitcoin falls 0.7% to $119,927 after reaching a high of $121,065 Thursday, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0706 GMT - Stellantis stock is down 70% from the peak, but that doesn't automatically make it cheap, Citi analysts write. Shares have recovered in the past few weeks on optimistic CEO commentary and on the first positive month of U.S. sales for three years--with September U.S. sales up 14% on year. Weirdly, the U.S. sales increase has come before any real new vehicles have hit the market, Citi adds. However, Stellantis earnings and balance sheet remain precarious. "We think Stellantis has to recover its adjusted operating income by around 7 billion-8 billion euros a year to recover EPS to around 2 euros to make the shares cheap enough. This doesn't seem likely at this time." Renault and Volkswagen enterprise values are much lower and cheaper than Stellantis, it adds. Shares rise 1.6% to 8.96 euros. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0700 GMT - EQT shares could rise this year as the asset manager benefits from catalysts such as significant fundraising and a strong activity outlook, Citi says. EQT also has notable upside to full-year consensus earnings, helped by recent strong exit activity, the bank says. Still, negative currency effects are seen weighing on EQT's third-quarter results, Citi analyst Nicholas Herman says. EQT is Citi's top pick among European asset managers, and the bank has a buy rating and a 380 Swedish kronor target price on the stock. Shares closed at 331.90 kronor. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 03, 2025 04:16 ET (08:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.