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

1848 ET - Incitec Pivot sees scope for consolidation in the global explosives industry, Goldman Sachs analysts say following the ASX-listed company's investor day briefing. The company cited South Africa as an inorganic opportunity, they say. "However, delivery against the transformation agenda was cited as a ticket to participation in any market consolidation," say the Goldman Sachs analysts. Goldman has a buy rating and A$3.35 target on Incitec, which rose 2.0% Tuesday to A$3.10/share. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

1846 ET - Wealth manager AMP has likely turned a corner with stable platform margins and improving flows, says Citi, acknowledging its buy call on the stock isn't a consensus view. "There seems cause for hope AMP's award-wining retirement products could see flows further improve," Citi says. It believes AMP's cost savings program is on track and contends that a consistent dividend policy shouldn't be far away once the company's share buyback ends. "While the Bank remains an issue for many, profit here seems to have stabilized and its new Engine solution is on track for launch in FY 2025," Citi says. It has a A$1.45/share price target on AMP, which ended Tuesday at A$1.325. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1840 ET - Winsome Resources has signaled capex for its Adina spodumene project in Canada using the nearby Renard plant could be US$292 million, which looks very attractive to Euroz Hartleys. Winsome has an option to buy the Renard operation, located some 37 miles south of Adina, and analyst Trent Barnett says that is a big positive for production. "Even after including the cost to acquire Renard (C$52 million), this makes the project capital light versus peers," Euroz Hartleys says. "Now that there is a study released, we expect Winsome can move quickly to involve potential partners and offtakes." (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1834 ET - Junior miners are likely to remain hesitant about exploration for at least another 12 months, reckons Citi, with implications for Imdex. That's because small miners are a long way from being able to deploy capital, says Citi, noting that raisings in July and August were some 25% below the monthly averages of 2023 and 2022. Analyst William Park says soft exploration to begin FY 2025, combined with lingering concerns around volatility in junior raisings, could test Imdex's relative resilience compared to the market. "Soft volumes flagged by Imdex are likely to remain unchanged but downside could reside in pricing momentum," Citi says. It thinks the risk of an earnings downgrade at Imdex's annual shareholder meeting next month is elevated and retains a sell call on the stock. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1829 ET - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 looks set to slip lower at the open, retreating from a record as traders wait on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision. ASX futures are down by about 0.5%, suggesting that the benchmark index will give back some of the 1.9% advance made across four consecutive gains. U.S. stock indices wobbled on the first day of the Fed's policy meeting, while traders continued to raise bets on a 50-basis-point rate cut. All three major benchmarks finished little changed. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both moved less than 0.1% on the day. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1604 ET - Major stock indexes are little changed as traders get ready for a Fed rate cut. Energy is the best performing sector as oil prices climb on growing tensions in the Middle East, while health care and consumer staples shares fall. August retail sales rise 0.1%, slightly ahead of expectations, and August housing starts are due in before the Fed decision tomorrow afternoon. Moderna gains 4.1% as Canada authorized its updated Covid-19 vaccine after selling off last week on cost-cutting plans. DJIA falls 15 points to 41606, the S&P 500 gains 1 point to 5634, and the Nasdaq rises 0.2% to 17628. (patrick.sullivan@wsj.com)

1543 ET - Stronger-than-expected retail-sales data helps lift the Atlanta Fed's closely watched real-time estimate of 3Q GDP. GDPNow is projecting 3% real GDP growth in the three months through September, up from 2.6% before the release showed higher retail sales in August. Ahead of the central bank's rate-cut decision tomorrow the estimate suggests the economy may still enjoy a substantial cushion against a recession that the Fed is very keen to avoid--despite the recent rise in the unemployment rate. (matt.grossman@wsj.com, @mattgrossman)

1523 ET - The leader of the United Steelworkers union is trying to ease the fears of U.S. Steel employees who say they're worried about losing their jobs if Nippon Steel's planned acquisition of U.S. Steel collapses. US Steel CEO Dave Burritt is saying the company's steel mill near Pittsburgh would likely close if the $14.1 billion sale is scuttled. Union leaders are opposed to it. In a letter to union members, USW International President Dave McCall describes the Japan-based steelmaker as a "renegade company" and says Burrit's threats are "ridiculous and irresponsible." He says Burritt stands to receive up to $70 million if deal is completed. "That's why Burritt is willing to hold our members hostage and threaten our families and our communities." (robert.tita@wsj.com)

1417 ET - One of Canada's top mortgage-market analysts says changes to the country's mortgage-financing rules has the potential to change the current lackluster tone in the home-sales market. Rob McLister, head of MortgageLogic.news, says raising the price cap on insured mortgages and expanding availability to 30-year amortizations on mortgages represent the most meaningful housing-market stimulus in nearly two decades. The rule changes and falling interest rates "are more hay to feed this market bull," he says, adding it could also add some life to depressed condominium markets in Toronto and Vancouver. McLister adds the changes could also persuade the Bank of Canada to hold off on aggressive rate cuts, "assuming no significant recession." (paul.vieira@wsj.com, @paulvieira)

1406 ET - Barrick Gold's CEO reckons it's extraordinary how undervalued the miner's shares are. Speaking at an industry forum, Mark Bristow says the value of Barrick's interest in its majority-owned Nevada Gold Mines and its copper portfolio almost exceeds the current market capitalization based on analysts' consensus net asset value calculations. That, he says, means the rest of the business is only valued at $3.3 billion, and that includes interest in three big gold mines outside Nevada, the Fourmile project and development work. Bristow affirmed the company expects 30% production growth in gold-equivalent ounces from existing assets by the end of the decade while also being alert to potential opportunities generated by industry consolidation. (robb.stewart@wsj.com; @RobbMStewart)

1354 ET - The venture-capital arm of software giant Salesforce has a fresh $500 million fund to invest in generative artificial-intelligence startups. Salesforce Ventures says it has deployed all of its previous $500 million AI-focused fund. Salesforce Ventures has invested in over two dozen AI companies since it launched in 2009, including enterprise-focused generative AI companies Cohere and OpenAI rival Anthropic. Salesforce offers customer-relationship-management software that allows businesses to manage their sales, marketing and customer data. (Marc.Vartabedian@wsj.com)

1353 ET - Corus Entertainment is carrying a major debt load which Scotiabank says would probably dictate how it would be acquired. Analyst Maher Yaghi says in a report that he expects the company to work on recapitalizing its balance sheet, but an acquirer would likely need to work with this in mind. "If Quebecor were to make a bid, we would expect it to occur within a debt-restructuring initiative and not through a direct acquisition offer to equity shareholders," he says. This would likely also mean a lower price. "We don't think Quebecor would pay north of [C]$400 million in enterprise value for Corus," Yaghi says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2024 18:48 ET (22:48 GMT)