Global Equities Roundup: Market Talk

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

0806 ET - Nvidia's board approved a $150 billion increase to its share-repurchase program, bringing the total authorization to $235 billion. The AI boom has fueled massive growth for Nvidia, driving up demand for its chips. "Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders," Chief Executive Jensen Huang says. "This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead." The company says it expects to execute the total remaining buyback program through fiscal year 2028. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0752 ET - RWE's outperformance against peers is set to continue, underpinned by a strong balance sheet and supportive demand for power, JPMorgan analysts write. The energy company's diverse portfolio of renewables offers positive exposure to gas and power prices, commodity price volatility, and long-term contracted sources of earnings and cash flows, the analysts say. JPM has an outperform rating on the stock and 68.50 euros target price. Shares are up 0.6% at 55.19 euros, and are 27% higher year to date. (joseph.wilkins@wsj.com)

0736 ET - The Swiss upper house's decision to tighten capital rules represents a near worst-case scenario for UBS Group, RBC Capital Markets' Anke Reingen and Sherry Lin write. RBC calculates an earnings per share hit of 9% from last week's parliamentary vote to require 90% CET1 backing--only 0.3 point better than the worse option of full CET1 backing. "As the base case is clearer now, UBS might look into finalizing mitigation plans--we do not believe selling itself/part of the operations are preferred options--but we don't expect any disclosure to the market before the finalization of rules," the analysts add. RBC slightly lowers its estimates after company comments that suggested a larger slowdown than it had modeled. Shares are up 0.2%. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0715 ET - Nvidia launched an open software platform aimed at testing and deploying AI agents while keeping them in a secure environment. The offering comes after agents from companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google went rogue in recent months, raising security concerns. Nvidia says recent security incidents have the same pattern, with agents circumventing security controls at the application layer to complete their assigned tasks. The incidents show that organizations need open, customizable tools that enforce more control over long-running agents, Nvidia says. "As we continue to discover the frontier of AI capabilities, we must accelerate discovery at the frontier of AI safety," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0713 ET - Tokenization in shareholder voting is "unlikely to become mainstream," JPMorgan analysts write. Votes on corporate matters like board elections and executive pay could use tokens built on the blockchain--the distributed ledger technology upon which cryptocurrencies are built--to run votes. However, such voting won't fully move to the blockchain any time soon, the analysts say. Stockbrokers that facilitate votes prefer to keep customer data private, the analysts say. Moreover, companies prefer to outsource the management of shareholder communications, they say, which would make the direct voting allowed by tokenization less appealing. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0702 ET - FirstGroup completed a buy-in of its group pension liabilities valued at 90 million pounds that should reduce the U.K. transport provider's exposure to pension risk, RBC Capital Markets analysts Ruairi Cullinane and Jakub Glinkowski write. Some 17.5 million pounds of pension escrow funds are returning to the company as a result. "We view FirstGroup's valuation and capital allocation optionality favorably with 435 million pounds of free cash flow guided over three years," the analysts say. RBC holds an outperform rating on the stock and a 255 pence price target. Shares are 2.4% higher at 181.80 pence but are down 4.6% over the year to date. (joseph.wilkins@wsj.com)

0700 ET - H&M faces continued downside risk to consensus gross margin estimates as well as to the company's target gross margin of 54%-55% next year, Berenberg analysts write. The risk is from higher materials costs among other pressures and comes despite ongoing sourcing efficiencies and improving agility, the bank says. Berenberg says it thinks the company's strategy to elevate quality is sensible, with H&M distancing itself from the highly competitive value fashion segment, in the light of the broader consumer trend to buy fewer, better items. "We think the strategy is helping H&M defend its sales base, but we see no convincing signs of growth at this stage." The bank maintains its sell rating and 135 Swedish kronor price target. Shares rise 0.4% to 162.20 kronor. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0646 ET - Nvidia is doubling down on safety efforts to contain AI agents after a string of recent security incidents involving AI agents from other companies. The chipmaker is launching an open software platform for testing and deploying AI agents, with tools for developers to continuously monitor and govern AI behavior. The company says the software includes technology that can help address agents that move outside their boundaries.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0643 ET - Daimler Truck will benefit from the strong order backlog across key regions such as Europe and North America into the third and fourth quarters, J.P. Morgan analysts write. "But most importantly in the medium term the firm is taking the right structural measures in Europe to improve the profitability." These measures include moving production to Eastern Europe and increasing aftermarket and service within the European business, which will structurally increase margins at Mercedes-Benz trucks. The bank sits below consensus earnings estimates heading into the quarter, with its focus on the company's ability to deliver the order backlog through the next two quarters. The bank rates Daimler Truck at overweight with a 50 euro price target. Shares rise 0.6% to 42.80 euros. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0637 ET - Tokenization, which creates digital units of value on a blockchain to represent ownership of an asset, offers operational efficiencies but also faces some limiting factors, HSBC digital asset analysts say in a note. This only makes sense if it brings demonstrable advantages over the current way of issue, trading and redeeming assets, they say. The benefits of tokenization include faster settlement times, 24/7 trading, less reconciliation, greater programmability, lower minimum investment sizes and potentially wider and more continuous market access, they say. Challenges include risks related to the technology underpinning tokenization, legal enforceability and limited secondary market liquidity, they say. "For now, tokenization therefore must coexist with much of the legacy financial infrastructure it ultimately seeks to improve." (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0635 ET - A merger between BASF and Evonik would need good execution, AlphaValue's Akash Nandy says, after German chemicals giant BASF last week revealed it had made an overture to its smaller rival. The appeal of such a tie-up lies in portfolio synergies, Nandy says. "A broader portfolio, overlapping customers and a single corporate cost base should sharpen BASF's position against global competition," he says. But given the scale of the two companies, any upside would hinge on execution, Nandy cautions. "On balance, we take a positive view, helped by management's delivery record in recent years," he adds. (((joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)))

0631 ET - Cryptocurrencies are falling as investors back a stronger dollar ahead of an increasingly likely Federal Reserve rate hike next month, IG's Chris Beauchamp writes. A rally across crypto assets early last week stalled as investors bet on the greenback, with "a stronger dollar carrying almost all before it," the market analyst writes. Markets now price a 70.3% likelihood of a quarter-point Fed rate hike in October. U.S. jobs data Friday will likely reinforce expectations of rate hikes, further weighing on nonyielding assets, Beauchamp says. Bitcoin falls 2% to $82,827.11, while ether drops 1.5% to $2,646.93.