The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0909 GMT - Smiths Group issues a slightly light outlook, RBC Capital Markets' Mark Fielding writes. To account for the sale of Smiths Detection, the U.K. engineering company now expects organic revenue growth of 3% to 4% over the full year. This compares with expectations of 4.2% growth, he says. Its headline operating margin is forecast at 20%, which is just below the 20.7% RBC expected, he adds. Organic growth for the first half of the fiscal year was also slightly lower than expected, he says. Shares fall 5.7% to 22.16 pounds. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0859 GMT - Unilever's potential divestiture of its food business would be strategically sound, analysts at Bernstein say. The U.K. group said it is in talks with U.S. spice maker McCormick after receiving a takeover offer for the unit. Unilever is possibly the most complex consumer packaged goods business in the world, with a hugely diverse geographical and category footprint, the analysts write. This diversification made sense in the 1990s and early 2000s, but the operating model in the industry has changed, they say. "The benefits of scale across categories no longer outweigh the drawbacks of complexity," Bernstein adds. "That said, the timing of these discussions comes as something of a surprise," the brokerage says. About a month ago, Unilever's CEO Fernando Fernandez said that the group had no urgency to act on a food divestiture, they say. Shares rise 1.3%. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
0856 GMT - Pub operator J.D. Wetherspoon is likely to see downgrades to full-year estimates after a disappointing set of results, Shore Capital analyst Greg Johnson says in a note. Still, despite an 18% fall in operating profit to 52.9 million pounds, its underlying pub profitability edged up, with the year-on-year decline all down to a marked increase in volatile repair and maintenance, Johnson says. "Spoons is a clear category killer, although we continue to believe its value proposition leaves it uniquely exposed to structural cost pressures, with forecasting remaining very challenging," Johnson says. Shares are down 11% to 555 pence, and are down 7% over the past 12 months.(anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
0848 GMT - London mining stocks rise as precious-metal prices tick upward. Metals came under pressure Thursday amid a selloff across markets as investors worried about the impact of the Middle East conflict on the global economy, ING's Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey write. Metal prices however are up Friday, with gold futures rising 2.7% to $4,731.70 a troy ounce, while silver rises 3.4% to $73.68 an ounce. LME three-month copper futures are up 0.7% to $12,236 a metric ton. Precious metal miner Fresnillo is up 1.7%, while peers Hochschild Mining and Endeavour Mining both rise around 1.2%. Copper miner Antofagasta is up 0.9%. Diversified miner Anglo American rises 0.6%. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0839 GMT - European energy stocks slide in opening trade as oil pares some of its gains. Prices come under downward pressure as Israel says it will no longer target Iranian energy infrastructure and there are suggestions that President Trump may relax sanctions on Iranian oil to ease supply concerns, ING's Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey write. Brent crude falls 1.6% to $106.91 a barrel while WTI drops nearly 2% to $91.16. In London, BP drops 2.25% while Shell falls 1.3%. Norway's Equinor is down 2.7%. Spain's Repsol trades 1.7% lower and Italy's Eni is 0.6% down.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0838 GMT - J.D. Wetherspoon's earnings show little to cheer for as rising costs have made the pub operator struggle to keep its head above water, Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter says in a note. Its operating margin has fallen to 4.86% from 6.3%, with pretax profit slumping 32% despite a 5.7% rise in revenue to 1.09 billion pounds. However, if customer numbers continue to rise, and with food becoming more important to revenue, there could be some glimmers of light yet to come, Hunter says. "A further heavy slump for the shares at the open reflects the caution, with the market consensus of the shares as a hold increasingly vulnerable to a downgrade," he says. Shares are down 10% at 559 pence. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
0834 GMT - Swedish miner Boliden faces growing risks to its top line from declining metals prices as the Middle East conflict raises global growth concerns, RBC analyst Marina Calero writes. "We see increasing downside risk in Boliden's commodity basket (30% copper, 27% zinc, 18% silver) as lower growth expectations start to get priced in." Energy accounted for 11% of Boliden's cost base in 2025, but thanks to its mostly underground asset base and fixed-electricity contracts, it is better placed than peers to withstand an energy shock, Calero says. Near-term catalysts from project ramp-ups should also prevent material underperformance versus peers. RBC downgrades Boliden to sector perform from outperform and lowers its price target to 600 Swedish kronor from 750 kronor. Shares rise 1.2% to 565.40 kronor. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0831 GMT - European stocks mostly rise at the open as all sectors gain except for energy. The Europewide Stoxx 600 climbs 0.75%. The German DAX rises 1.1% after falling sharply at the last close, with industrial and chemicals stocks rallying as oil prices slip. Semiconductor company Infineon gains 5.2% after an analyst upgrade. The CAC 40 is 0.8% higher in Paris, led by a 3.4% gain for steelmaker ArcelorMittal. London's FTSE 100 rises 0.5%, with gains checked by losses for oil majors. Spain's IBEX 35 and the Italian FTSE MIB climb 1.4% and 1%, respectively, as banks and construction companies rally. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0822 GMT - Hongkong Land's purchase of a stake in Suntec REIT looks strategically aligned to Citi analysts. The Singapore-listed property company's 10.8% stake buy in the REIT could have caught some investors by surprise, the analysts write . They note that the consideration is around a 16% discount to net asset value and is yield-accretive. Suntec REIT holds stakes in assets that Hongkong Land also owns, which ensures familiarity while matching with Hongkong Land's strategy to deploy capital into income-producing commercial assets in Singapore, the analysts add. Suntec REIT's continuing strategic review could lead to initiatives that support Hongkong Land's plans in Singapore, they add. Citi retains its buy rating and US$9.88 target price. Shares fall 3.0% to US$8.03. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0816 GMT - Norsk Hydro is well-placed to take advantage of elevated aluminum prices, RBC analyst Marina Calero writes. With the Middle East conflict showing no signs of de-escalating, supply risks are mounting. The region is home to 9% of global production, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz makes it challenging, if not impossible, to export production and import raw materials. RBC now assumes no production at Norsk Hydro's Qatar joint venture this year. However, the Norwegian company is blessed with low-cost hydropower, stands to benefit from higher aluminum prices and European premiums, and its energy division could see windfall prices. RBC upgrades its rating on Norsk Hydro to outperform from sector perform and lifts its price target to 95 Norwegian kroner from 85 kroner. Shares rise 2.9% to 88.04 kroner. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0746 GMT - KKR isn't immune to the headwinds facing the private-credit market, writes Morningstar's Greggory Warren in a note. Issues around liquidity in private-credit funds are likely to hit fundraising efforts and lead to increased redemption requests in the medium term, he says. While the alternative asset manager's exposure to private credit is far less than that of its peers Blue Owl and Ares, the company has enough private-credit exposure to weigh on it for the next several years, he adds. Morningstar cuts its fair-value estimate on KKR to $115 from $140, citing likely lower fundraising and higher redemptions for KKR's credit and liquid strategies segment. However, its shares are still moderately undervalued even with the fair-value estimate change, the analyst adds. Shares last closed flat at $90.60.(megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0732 GMT - Nordic markets are seen opening slightly higher, with IG calling the OMXS30 up 0.3% at around 2918. Pressure on markets eased somewhat late Thursday after Israel's prime minister said it will not hit further energy targets, that the war will end sooner than many think, SEB's Erik Meyersson writes. Brent oil fell to $108 a barrel yesterday, but this wasn't enough to prevent broad declines on stock markets, he says. Equity markets in Japan and large parts of Asia are closed but European and U.S. futures point higher. Friday sees the quarterly "triple-witching" event, when a large number of options linked to U.S. equities expire, Meyersson adds. OMXS30 closed at 2908.97, OMXN40 at 2414.18 and OBX at 1954.02. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2026 05:09 ET (09:09 GMT)
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