The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0925 GMT - Anglo American's share price has room to grow as it completes its restructuring plan and overcomes operational challenges, Jefferies analysts Christopher LaFemina and Albert Realini write. Jefferies upgraded the rating for the miner to buy from hold, reversing a previous downgrade following the failed takeover offer from rival BHP. Anglo American's shares have fallen around 15% since it announced its plan to sell assets in May, the analysts write. Jefferies raised its target price to 2,850 pence a share to reflect the progress on restructuring, operational improvements, free-cash-flow growth and near-term M&A potential. Shares are up 3% at 2,464 pence.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0919 GMT - Supreme PLC's move to buy Typhoo Tea is consistent with its strategy to build non-vape revenues, Shore Capital analysts Clive Black and Darren Shirley write. They note the company's recent acquisition of Clearly Drinks as another example. The company said Thursday that it was in talks with administrators to buy the brand, while cautioning there is no certainty any deal will be agreed on. The analysts add that Supreme founder and CEO Sandy Chadha has a strong commercial track record so any decision will be well grounded and set around aspirations for earnings accretion and cash generation. Supreme shares are down 0.6% at 167.50 pence. (ian.walker@wsj.com.)
0907 GMT - Malaysia's benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ended 0.2% lower at 1594.29. The local market could continue to move sideways, given the absence of domestic buying catalysts and the closure of U.S. markets for Thanksgiving keeping investors on the sidelines, TA Securities analyst Stephen Soo says in a note. Soo pegs the KLCI's support at 1588 and resistance at 1630. Among decliners, Tenaga Nasional lost 2.3% and Capital A fell 8.3%. Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia added 1.9% and Public Bank rose 1.4%. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
0850 GMT - Hong Kong's residential property market is likely to bottom out in 2025 given falling home prices and improving transaction volumes, CCB International analysts write in a note. Rising rents and falling prices, along with rate cuts expected next year, will improve the cost of carry for property investment in the region, they say. CCB International forecasts a 4% rental yield and a 3% mortgage rate by the end of 2025. In addition, pent-up demand over the past three years and the shift to buying from renting have prompted property developers to clear inventory, they say. Transaction volumes in the primary and secondary markets will likely improve to 18,000 units and 35,000 units, respectively, in 2025, they add. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0838 GMT - The German mobile market will likely experience disruption in 2025, and investors need to be prepared, Berenberg analysts Usman Ghazi and Shekhan Ali write in a note. While Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica Deutschland have engineered a larger market share along with tariff innovations, competitors such as 1&1 have an urgent need to re-accelerate growth going into 2025, they say. "Vodafone can afford to be more patient than 1&1; however, 1&1's offensive in 2025 could affect Vodafone the most and could force Vodafone, and consequently the market, down the path of unlimited mobile data tariffs," they say. Deutsche Telekom shares are down 0.3% at 30.03 euros; Telefonica Deutschland is up 0.5% at 2.11 euros; 1&1 rises 0.3% to 12 euros; and Vodafone climbs 0.03% to 71.72 pence. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0838 GMT - XPeng will likely report a stronger vehicle gross margin in 4Q due to increasing volume, particularly from the higher-margin products, Deutsche Bank analyst Bin Wang writes in a note. The company guides for monthly delivery volumes of more than 30,000 units in November and December, boosting its 4Q delivery to between 85,000 and 91,000 units. With higher sales of its P7+ sedan, which has a stronger gross profit margin, XPeng's vehicle margin is expected to improve sequentially, he says. Additionally, the company plans to launch at least four new products next year, with at least one each quarter, DB says. XPeng is also set to launch its first extended-range electric vehicle in 4Q25, a large-size SUV. The brokerage maintains a buy rating for the stock. Shares last traded at HK$46.45. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0826 GMT - Hong Kong shares closed higher, supported by auto and entertainment stocks. Investors are closely watching for announcements related to the upcoming central government work conference in December, which could be the next platform for stimulus to boost economy. Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment led the gains, up 4.4% and 4.1%, respectively. Li Auto rose 3.8% and Geely Automobile added 0.6%. Among the top decliners, New World Development dropped 6.0% before trading was halted. Meituan lost 2.0% ahead of 3Q earnings due later today. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.3% higher at 19423.61 and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.1%. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0818 GMT - The recent easing of policies for Shenzhen residents visiting Hong Kong is mildly positive for the Hong Kong retail sector, CGS International analysts write in an email. The Hong Kong local government announced early Friday that Shenzhen residents can stay up to seven days per visit to Hong Kong. In the first ten months of this year, mainland Chinese visitors accounted for 77% of Hong Kong's visitor arrivals, and the analysts expect total visitor arrivals to reach 44 million in 2024. Wharf Real Estate Investment, Link Real Estate Investment Trust and Sun Hung Kai Properties are expected to benefit the most among Hong Kong developers with high retail exposure, as higher visitor arrivals boost traffic at their shopping malls, they say. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0813 GMT - Kiatnakin Phatra Bank's lending could shrink by 2% next year on subdued car sales, CGS International's Weerapat Wonk-urai says in a research report. The brokerage expects Thailand's domestic car sales to remain low at 550,000-570,000 units in 2025 because of high household debt, a longer replacement cycle for new cars and muted used-car prices. Given the slow recovery in used-car prices, the Thai bank's losses from sales of repossessed vehicles will probably stay high. However, the brokerage lowers its 2024-2026 credit-cost assumptions for the bank to 119-124 bps from 150-160 bps, partly due to its tightened credit standards. It raises the target price to THB52.00 from THB49.00 while maintaining the stock's hold rating. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0759 GMT - The year ahead for the EU pharma sector is set to see important trial readouts for treatments in the pipeline and higher M&A activity, Intron Health analysts say in a note. "If 2024 was characterised by sales growth of key assets, we believe 2025 will be driven by pipeline given the significant number of key readouts particularly where late-stage trial success is uncertain but the sales potential is high," the analysts say. In addition, biotech M&A will likely rebound strongly in 2025 as big pharma faces slowing sales growth due to the loss of exclusivity of some of their drugs, they say.(helena.smolak@wsj.com)
0751 GMT - The FTSE 100 is expected to open 16 points, or 0.2%, lower, according to IG. The index closed at 8281.22 on Thursday. Global markets remain subdued due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Concerns linger about the prospect of trade tariffs under President-elect Donald Trump, as well as around the uncertainty surrounding France's budget due to political disagreements. Eurozone provisional inflation data at 1000 GMT is the main event of the day in terms of scheduled economic data. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)
0744 GMT - Nordic markets are expected to open slightly lower, with IG calling the OMXS30 down 0.2% at around 2504. U.S. stock markets were closed Thursday due to Thanksgiving and will close early on Black Friday. In Europe, equity markets moved mostly higher Thursday, driven largely by chip companies such as ASML, VAT and Aixtron, SEB analysts say in a note. European equity futures are pointing lower and stock markets in Asia are also generally falling back. Stocks in China are rising though, after the Commerce Ministry issued a statement on the importance of boosting the country's consumption potential, SEB adds. Inflation data from France and the eurozone, retail sales data from France and Germany, and the ECB's inflation expectations for the eurozone are all due Friday. OMXS30 closed at 2508.92, OMXN40 at 2608.69 and OBX at 1365.66. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2024 04:26 ET (09:26 GMT)
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