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

0725 GMT - Spanish utility Endesa is raising its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings on strength in its integrated-electricity and gas-unit margins, RBC Capital Markets' Fernando Garcia and Charlotte Mettyear say in a research note. The company now expects net ordinary profit of more than 2.4 billion euros this year, up from its previous guidance range of 2.3 billion to 2.4 billion euros. "It looks like the company will continue enjoying strong electricity integrated margin on gradually passing on to customers the increase in ancillary service costs and gas unit margin on the increase in the TTF," the analysts say, referring to the benchmark contract for European gas prices. Shares rise 2%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0724 GMT - The Bank of Japan is expected to leave rates unchanged at its coming meeting, but may indicate a faster pace of rate hikes than the roughly six-month interval previously suggested, says Vincent Chung at T. Rowe Price. "Our main conviction is that the BOJ needs to raise rates at a faster pace," says the co-portfolio manager. The market also continues to view the BOJ as being behind the curve. Should the BOJ accelerate policy normalization, two more rate hikes are likely this year, he reckons. "A materially and sustainably stronger yen would probably require a combination of faster BOJ tightening, lower energy prices and more coordinated currency intervention," he says in a note. (monica.gupta@wsj.com)

0722 GMT - European stock indexes are largely higher in resilient early trade. Strong earnings prints and investor rotation into defensive sectors helps the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 rise 0.3%, even as a semiconductor-led selloff continues. London's FTSE 100 is 0.55% higher as rising oil prices buoy Shell and BP. The CAC 40 adds 0.5% in Paris, where Kering leaps 11% after earnings, helping the broader luxury sector. The Italian FTSE MIB adds 0.7%. Germany's DAX rises 0.3%, led by a 5.3% gain for Deutsche Bank after it announced a new buyback. The Dutch AEX edges up 0.05% amid broad tech weakness with ASM International losing 6.6%, though chemicals group IMCD jumps 9%. Spain's IBEX 35 is 0.65% lower as CaixaBank--down 4.1%--drags. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0713 GMT - Telefonica delivered a strong set of second-quarter results, Bernstein analysts write in a note. The Spanish telecommunications company raised its full-year guidance for adjusted operating cash flow after leases and reported a swing to a net profit alongside higher revenue in the quarter. "[The] second quarter is the last quarter with the full headwind from the loss of 1&1's wholesale business last year," they say. The group seems to be on track to meet its full-year outlook, they add. Shares are flat at 3.73 euros. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0712 GMT - Remy Cointreau still isn't seeing recovery for its cognac sales in the key American and Chinese markets, analysts at Bernstein write in a note. The French distiller booked a surprisingly strong increase in sales in its mainstay cognac division, which houses its Remy Martin and Louis XIII labels of the upmarket beverage. Still, sales in China continued to decline, while value depletions fell in the U.S. Deputy CEO Luca Marotta points to some "early green shoots" in the two markets. Bernstein has an outperform rating and a 55-euro target on Remy stock. Shares open 0.8% lower at 48.11 euros. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)

0656 GMT - UBS Group's better-than-expected underlying earnings for the second quarter are mainly due to the outperformance of its equities-trading activities within its investment bank, Vontobel's Andreas Venditti says in a research note. Underlying pretax profit at the Swiss banking group was $3.9 billion, up 70% on year and 10% above consensus expectations. At the investment bank, higher revenue from prime brokerage, cash equities and equity derivatives contributed to very strong profit growth, the analyst says. Elsewhere, the combined underlying earnings from UBS's three other divisions--wealth management, personal and corporate banking, and asset management--are only 2% above consensus, he adds. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0654 GMT - The Chinese property sector's prospects look positive, according to Citi analysts in a research note. Sales growth are expected to stabilize in July-September on resilient transaction volumes in core cities and a favorable low base, they say. The sector is also likely to benefit from a stronger new-launch pipeline from September and expectations for a supportive tone from the Politburo meeting in July. "We think the sector is well prepared for a bull run from August to October," they say. Citi's top picks include China Resources Land, C&D International Investment. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0652 GMT - Jasa Marga may benefit from its exposure to the high-growth Jakarta Outer Ring Road, Bahana Sekuritas analysts say in a research report. The brokerage's model estimates that this road, for which the Indonesian company manages some of the toll road network, will contribute 199 billion rupiah, or 8.8% of Ebitda growth over the next three years. This road has consistently shown better traffic growth than other toll roads combined, and the Indonesian company has noted drivers' willingness to pay higher for the road, up to 2,000 rupiah per kilometer versus Jakarta's average of 1,700 rupiah per kilometer. The brokerage initiates coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a target price of 3,500.00 rupiah. Shares are 0.75% higher at 2,700.00 rupiah. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0651 GMT - UBS Group reported strong second-quarter results that feature small net-new-money inflows in the U.S. for its global-wealth-management unit, which look encouraging, RBC Capital Markets' Anke Reingen and Sherry Lin say in a research note. Net new assets in the Swiss banking group's wealth-management division came in at $35.5 billion in the second quarter, slightly below the inflows of $37.4 billion recorded in the previous quarter. Net inflows were mainly driven by Switzerland and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, but UBS attracted $900 million in net new money in the Americas too, RBC says. "Even if low, the small positive [net new assets] in the Americas is encouraging," the analysts say. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0631 GMT - UBS Group reported a good set of second-quarter results, but recent U.S. bank earnings have pushed up the bar for the Swiss group, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods say in a research note. Strong client activity helped UBS achieve healthy net new asset inflows in its core global-wealth-management arm, though this was tempered by weaker fee-based flows and a decline in U.S. advisor numbers, the analysts say. Its investment bank performed strongly as expected, they add. A $3 billion buyback through the second quarter of next year should be supportive, according to KBW. "While there is much to like in the story, expectations have increased meaningfully in recent weeks," the analysts say. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0614 GMT - Tokyo stocks fall Wednesday following Tuesday's earthquake in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, but the disaster shouldn't pose a major threat to share prices if damaged factories can resume operations within roughly a month, says Daiwa Securities analyst Eiji Kinouchi. Pointing to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake--when production halts were mostly resolved within a month and tech stocks saw only a single-day dip--he says focus should now shift toward recovery efforts across the region's semiconductor hub. The Nikkei Stock Average is last down 2.2%. (megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com)

0608 GMT - EssilorLuxottica's investment case remains a balancing act, analysts at Bernstein say. The Franco-Italian eyecare titan booked a slight slowdown in sales growth over the quarter through June, though management was upbeat on the prospects for growth ahead fuelled by its AI-smartglasses tie-up with tech group Meta. The category should ensure the group records a solid performance for the next year or two, Bernstein says. "What investors need to look out for is the prospect of tech-driven category disruption beyond this horizon," the brokerage says. "This balancing act will likely make the share price prone to upswing (and downswing) moves on the back of quarterly updates like this and news flow on the tech front."