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

2042 ET - Stanmore's US$105 million acquisition of Moranbah South coal-project tenements from Exxaro represents a relatively low-cost strategic acquisition, at roughly US$0.14/metric ton, says Ord Minnett. It also helps Stanmore avoid up to US$60 million in deferred and contingent acquisition payments that would be owing once the Isaac Downs Extension is developed, the broker says. "While some investors may be concerned about the near-term increase to net debt, we see any weakness in the share price as a buying opportunity given current met-coal price tailwinds," it says. The broker has a buy rating and target price of 3.95 Australian dollars a share on Stanmore. The stock is down 1.0% at A$2.91. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

2021 ET - Qantas Airways's valuation doesn't reflect the improving quality of its earnings, according to Morgan Stanley. Qantas trades on a FY 2027 price-to-earnings multiple of 9.8X. That's some 20% below the median of global peers despite Qantas's high returns, analyst Joseph Michael says. MS has an overweight call and A$12.80/share price target on Qantas, which is up 0.8% at A$9.42 early Friday. MS suggests Qantas's valuation doesn't reflect Qantas's pricing power and its international earnings. "We forecast FY31 Qantas International Ebit of A$1.28 billion, with the FY26 disclosure increasing our confidence in the earnings path," MS says. It notes the Perth-London route provides proof of concept for Qantas's ultra-long haul Project Sunrise program. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2011 ET - Japanese stocks are higher in early trade as expectations for the Fed's rate increases recede. Technology and financial stocks are leading the gains. SoftBank Group is up 6.5%, Fujitsu is 3.1% higher and Nomura Holdings is up 1.9%. The dollar is at 155.32 yen, down sharply from Y157.23 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are closely watching bond yields and crude oil prices after Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said he would support holding rates steady if inflation data continue the recent progress. The Nikkei Stock Average is up 0.5% at 64530.98. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

1943 ET - Japanese stocks may rise as expectations for the Fed's rate increase ease. Nikkei futures are up 0.7% at 64620 on the SGX. The dollar is at 155.83 yen, down sharply from Y157.23 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on bond yields and crude oil prices after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support holding rates steady if inflation data continue the recent progress. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.2% to 64214.48 on Thursday. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)

1919 ET - Australian stocks look set to open higher after more gains on Wall Street, where stocks climbed and global bond yields retreated. The rally followed comments by Fed governor Christopher Waller, who said he would support holding interest rates steady if August inflation data supports it. ASX futures are up by 0.3% ahead of Friday's open, suggesting that the S&P/ASX 200 might add to Thursday's 0.5% gain. Shares including in Ampol, Eagers Automotive and Viva Energy will trade ex-dividend. In the U.S., the DJIA rose 1.2%. The S&P 500 added 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4%. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

1855 ET - Trading in Corporate Travel Management is likely to be very volatile, says Jefferies. CTD is back after a lengthy suspension on the ASX that followed the late-2025 discovery of errors in its accounts. Analyst John Campbell says CTD's FY26 wasn't as bad as feared. "With the unqualified FY26 audit opinion after an exhaustive process, investors can take comfort in the bona fides of FY26 accounts," Jefferies says. The balance sheet remains in reasonable shape, it says, despite CTD being materially hit by client settlements and refunds. "Nonetheless, given the extremely challenging situation, it is very difficult to forecast key variables including Client Retention, New Client Wins, Take Rate and Opex," Jefferies says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

Sunstone Metals's double dose of good news helps to entrench Shaw & Partners's bullish view of its stock. Firstly, metallurgical testwork returned materially higher recoveries of precious and base metals than previously assumed in an April scoping study. Recovery rates for copper is now at 80%, up from 75%. For gold, the recovery rate rises to 93%, from 85%. Secondly, recent assays have extended mineralisation outside the existing Bramaderos Resource, analyst Peter Kormendy says. "With only a handful of assays outstanding, we see limited scope for the December Quarter resource update to disappoint on grade or continuity," Shaw says. "The key swing factor remains how much of the 1.7-3.5 million oz Copete-Porotillo and Melonal-linked exploration targets convert to resource in the next update." (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1837 ET [Dow Jones]--NexGen Energy gets a new bull in Jefferies, which is drawn to the Rook I high-grade uranium project in Canada. Rook I, one of the world's largest undeveloped projects, hosts the Arrow uranium deposit. Jefferies says Arrow can underpin an operation producing 28 million lbs a year. A separate discovery, known as PCE, is around two miles away with the potential to share infrastructure. Analyst Daniel Roden says this would add scale and longevity. "At 28 million lbs Rook may supply 14% of global reactor demand," says Jefferies. "Shortfalls can influence incentive pricing on residual production, partially hedging execution risk." Jefferies says NexGen offers differentiated exposure to uranium, so should be a core sector holding of investors. It starts NexGen at buy, with a A$20.60/share price target. NexGen ended Thursday at A$14.30. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1840 ET - Lululemon is increasing marketing to try to win back customers as traffic continued to slow down in the second quarter. The brand has faced negative sentiment in the media and on social media, interim co-Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer Meghan Frank tells analysts on a call. To improve the brand's name Lululemon is advertising at sporting events, including the U.S. Open, and marathons in major cities this fall, executives say. "I would say given the challenges we've seen from both the brand and product perspective, we do feel strongly that we need to continue to keep our investment level in marketing," Frank says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1832 ET - Could a third party attempt to gatecrash a takeover of MaxiPARTS? Ord Minnett assesses the possibility. MaxiPARTS has received a A$2.50-a-share proposal from Ares Management. Its directors are supportive if Ares firms up the bid. Examining potential interlopers, analyst James Casey says Bapcor is the most obvious candidate. Bapcor owns commercial-vehicle businesses Truckline and WANO. "Acquiring MaxiPARTS would roughly double Bapcor's exposure to the segment and offer obvious synergies," Ord Minnett says. "However, it is unclear whether Bapcor's new management team has investor backing to pursue a major acquisition while the company is still in a turnaround." Another possible suitor is Genuine Parts Co., which owns Repco in Australia. It has no commercial-vehicle exposure in Australia, but has acquired similar businesses overseas, says Ord Minnett. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1828 ET - Lululemon is still having problems with its core products, including leggings and women's tops, interim co-Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer Meghan Frank tells investors on a call. Leggings sales declined 20% in the second quarter, which Frank says was below management's expectations. Part of the problem is that customers are looking for baggier silhouettes, Frank says. The company has seen better momentum with wide-leg pants and joggers. That growth helped offset some of leggings' decline, bringing overall bottoms sales down by a mid-single-digit percentage, Frank says. Shares slide 18% after hours. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1504 ET - Oil futures end the session little changed as the market sees the U.S.-Iran conflict going on for longer with this week's resumption of military strikes. "Iran is trying to constrain the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. is trying to open it," says Simon Wong, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. "There's a dispute about how much oil is coming out, but I don't think Iran wants to let that card go because that's all the leverage they have at this point." WTI for October delivery rises 0.3%, to $91.30 a barrel, in a fourth consecutive gain. Front-month Brent for November delivery slips 0.1%, to $95.52 a barrel, snapping a three-session winning streak.