The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0812 GMT - The Bank of Japan is likely to hike or intervene in the coming weeks, given the yen's underperformance, RBC Capital Markets' Abbas Keshvani says in commentary. The yen has underperformed over the last month, undoing most of BOJ's intervention in recent months. A yen recovery will require an aggressive hiking cycle, but the central bank is unlikely to jeopardize growth in such a manner, he says. "Instead, they will likely hike enough to prevent excessive yen weakness until stability in JGBs next year can usher in a currency recovery," he adds. (amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0753 GMT - MediaTek becomes a much more credible custom artificial-intelligence chip contender after Nvidia's strategic investment, Citi analyst Laura Chen says in a research note. The deepening alliance between the two companies could turn MediaTek to one of the principal custom-silicon design platforms inside the broader Nvidia ecosystem, from a chip maker with a few large custom AI chip wins, Chen says. That could materially increase both the number and longevity of MediaTek's custom AI processor opportunities in the longer term, she notes. Meanwhile, the expanded collaboration with Nvidia now gives MediaTek AI growth opportunities in three areas: custom AI chips, AI PCs, as well as physical AI, she added. Shares last ended 9.9% higher at 4,315 New Taiwan dollars. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0745 GMT - Shares in U.K. home builders fell after August's Nationwide House Price Index showed the market was still finding its footing. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets note that annual growth peaked at 4.7% in December 2024, faded through 2025, and has settled since into a 1.4% to 2.2% range through most of 2026. "The market is not falling, but it is not flying either. It is a market in a holding pattern, circling and waiting for the right conditions to land," RBC says. Vistry is down 3.7%, with Berkeley down 3.2% and Crest Nicholson down 2.9%. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
0729 GMT - The U.K. housing market is grinding along rather than powering ahead, RBC Capital Markets analysts Anthony Codling and Oliver Dyson say in a note. According to the Nationwide House Price Index for August, annual prices grew 1.6% with a modest 0.2% month-on-month uptick, RBC says. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis the average U.K. home now costs 275,465 pounds, below July's 276,581 pounds, thus underlining just how flat conditions really are, RBC says. Geopolitical tensions are keeping energy prices and market interest rates elevated and cast a shadow over consumer confidence and mortgage affordability, the analysts say. Although wage growth continues to outpace house-price growth, so affordability is improving gradually, higher mortgage rates are eating into those gains, the analysts say. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
0722 GMT - European stock indexes are mixed at the open as U.S.-Iran escalation drags on travel stocks and energy-intensive industrials. AI-related stocks gain, however, as Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is flat. London's FTSE 100 falls 0.4%, dragged by a 2.9% drop for defense group Rolls-Royce while metals miners also slide. InterContinental Hotels Group is down 3.6%. The German DAX is 0.4% lower. Software giant SAP drops 2.7%, while Rheinmetall falls 2.3%. France's CAC 40 is in the green, rising 0.2%. Industrial gas group Air Liquide jumps 3.6% after activist investor Elliott Management built a stake in the company, according to an FT report. Italy's FTSE MIB is flat, while the Spanish IBEX 35 slips 0.2%. The semiconductor-heavy AEX adds 3%, boosted by a 1% gain for ASML.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0721 GMT - Japan's real gross domestic product growth for the April-June quarter is likely to be revised upward to 0.4% on an on-quarter basis and to 1.6% in annualized terms, as Ministry of Finance figures indicate stronger-than-expected capital expenditures, says Daiwa Securities economist Kento Minami. That compares with initial readings of +0.3% and +1.1%, respectively. Revised GDP data is due Sept. 8. The reading will "likely confirm that while domestic demand lost some momentum from the previous quarter, Japan's broader growth trajectory remains largely intact," Minami says.(megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com)
0709 GMT - MediaTek's custom AI-chip business could continue growing strongly beyond 2028, as its role in Google's AI-accelerator programs expands despite rising competition from other chip-design partners, J.P. Morgan says. The brokerage says concerns about MediaTek's position in Google's AI-chip supply chain are overdone, and expects the company to remain a key partner in future chip generations, supported by its capabilities in connectivity, interconnect technology and system-level design. J.P. Morgan raises its 2027 and 2028 earnings estimates for MediaTek and lifts its June 2027 price target to NT$5,600 from NT$5,300, citing stronger long-term growth prospects and operating leverage from the company's custom AI-chip business. (jie.yang@wsj.com)
0703 GMT - Keppel's transformation into a global asset manager and operator is likely gaining momentum, Maybank Research's Krishna Guha says in a report. The transformation positions Keppel as a unique ecosystem play for digital infrastructure and sustainable urbanization, the analyst says. Keppel's network of capital partners and asset management platform helps build a capital-intensive infrastructure in an asset-light scalable model. The Singapore-listed company's divestment of non-core assets also unlocks capital for growth and improving shareholder returns. Maybank Research initiates coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a target price of 13.00 Singapore dollars. Shares are 0.2% lower at S$11.58. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0646 GMT - GuocoLand's strong sales momentum across its development projects should offer earnings visibility and reflect the strength of its core Singapore operations, says DBS Group Research's Tabitha Foo in a note. The Singapore property company's launches this year showed strong take-up and are nearly fully sold as of end-June, she says. Most of the earnings from these projects haven't been recognized yet, the analyst adds, estimating potential residential revenue at more than 3 billion Singapore dollars. She expects the progressive recognition of these projects to provide a visible, multiyear earnings runway. DBS raises its target price to S$3.40 from S$3.30 and maintains a buy rating. Shares rise 0.45% to S$2.22. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0642 GMT - Thai Oil stands to benefit from a tightened refinery market resulting from the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, ttb wealth securities' Yupapan Polpornprasert says in a research report. Hence, the brokerage lifts its gross refining margin assumptions for the oil refinery by US$7.20 for 2026, US$1.30 for 2027, and US$1.10 for 2028. Also, the company's heavy capital-expenditure cycle from its clean fuel project is coming to an end, says the brokerage, which expects Thai Oil's free cash flow to turn positive from 2027. The brokerage raises the stock's target price to 75.00 baht from 60.00 baht with unchanged buy rating. Shares are 1.6% higher at 65.00 baht. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0637 GMT - MediaTek's push into custom AI processors could accelerate after Nvidia's $3.5 billion investment, a move Counterpoint Research says aims as much to shape the future AI ecosystem as to deepen ties with a key partner. Nvidia's investment in MediaTek's convertible bonds is less a traditional partnership and more a strategic effort to help develop AI chips that work seamlessly with Nvidia's computing platforms, Counterpoint says. The deal could help Nvidia extend its influence beyond GPUs into the broader AI supply chain, while benefiting from MediaTek's growing relationships with major cloud companies including Google and Meta, the research firm adds.(jie.yang@wsj.com)
0626 GMT - AI-driven demand for storage used in cloud computing and AI systems is set to keep rising this quarter, supporting strong growth for NAND flash makers even as Chinese rivals expand output, according to TrendForce. The research firm says revenue for the world's top five suppliers of enterprise SSDs, the high-performance storage drives used in AI servers and data centers, more than doubled from the previous quarter in 2Q. Demand is expected to remain strong in 3Q, driven by wider adoption of generative AI services, continued cloud infrastructure spending and shipments of certain Nvidia AI server racks. Samsung remains the market leader, followed by SK Hynix and Micron, which posted the fastest growth among the top five suppliers, TrendForce says.
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