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

0822 GMT - Ericsson headline numbers are on the soft side, with adjusted EBIT missing Bloomberg consensus by 5%, but sales registered a slight 1% beat, Danske Bank senior analyst Mads Lindegaard Rosendal writes. Ericsson's topline grew 2% on year, which masked vast regional differences, he says. The U.S. grew 54% on year while other regions declined sharply. "In terms of forward-looking guidance, the report was decent, with Ericsson expecting a gradual recovery in the radio access network market with first quarter 2025 growth in networks roughly in line with the groups three year average." Rosendal says Ericsson has done very well in terms of controlling costs and generating cash flow. Shares fall 8.9% to 88.90 Swedish kronor. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0753 GMT - Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's bid for Mediobanca seems unlikely to go through on first look, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods say in a research note after the Italian bank launched an all-share offer for its peer. BMPS is smaller than Mediobanca and the banks don't overlap materially. The synergy potential is limited, even including the acceleration of deferred tax assets--balance-sheet items reducing future tax obligations-- usage, KBW says. "With BMPS trading at lower [price to earnings multiples] than MB our first impression is that this offer has limited [chances] of success," analysts Hugo Cruz and Ben Maher write. If the transaction goes ahead, Mediobanca shareholders will own 60% of the combined group, they note. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

0749 GMT - Burberry's third-quarter beat could strengthen its stock amid a more favorable investor sentiment in luxury, Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet writes in a note. The U.K. luxury group booked retail revenue of 659 million pounds for its fiscal third quarter, down 3% on year at constant exchange rates. Comparable store sales fell 4% on year, while analysts had projected a 12% decline. After Richemont and Brunello Cucinelli's strong business updates, companies that are in the midst of a turnaround such as Burberry and Gucci owner Kering could benefit from favorable investor sentiment shift toward the sector, Citi says. Shares closed at 10.71 pounds on Thursday. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)

0736 GMT - The relative attractiveness of Anglo American's operational turnaround has somewhat diminished, analysts at Citibank write. BHP's bid for Anglo in May last year kick-started a successful restructuring that caused its stock to rise around 30% and outperform peers, the analysts write. However, as it disposes of metallurgical coal assets and sees continued weakness in diamond and platinum group metals, the share upside looks limited. Downside risks remain if further restructuring and the disposal of non-core assets like its diamond business and Anglo American Platinum is delayed. The analysts downgrade the stock to neutral from buy and set a target price of 28 pounds, down from 30 pounds. Shares closed Thursday at 25.48 pounds. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

0735 GMT - Givaudan's growth momentum will continue in 2025, despite price increases for natural ingredients used to manufacture its products, Vontobel analyst Arben Hasanaj says in a note. The Swiss flavor-and-fragrance company posted a rise in fourth-quarter net profit, earnings and revenue in line with expectations, alongside higher than-expected free cashflow, the analyst says. The company's organic growth was driven by volumes, in particular in its fine fragrances/perfumery segment, he says. "Despite the stellar growth in 2024, we believe fears of an abrupt slowdown are unwarranted," Vontobel says. Givaudan will benefit from the need of consumer goods companies--that Givaudan supplies ingredients to-- to increase innovation and marketing spend to achieve growth targets, he says.(helena.smolak@wsj.com)

0731 GMT - Erawan Group's Thailand and Japanese hotels are likely to enjoy strong revenue-per-available-room performance in 2025, CGS International's Thanapol Jiratanakij says in a research report. The brokerage forecasts the company's revenue and core net profit to grow 9% and 18%, respectively, this year thanks to an average-daily-rate increase of 2%-3% per year and its hotel portfolio expansion in budget/economy segments. The Thai company's upcoming renovation of Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel should also have limited impact due to a relatively small number of rooms being renovated at any one time. The brokerage raises the target price to THB5.50 from THB5.20 with an unchanged add rating. Shares are 1.2% higher at THB3.38. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0730 GMT - Chinese shares ended higher as sentiment was buoyed by U.S. president Trump's latest comments on tariffs. Trump said in an interview with Fox that he would rather not have to use tariffs. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 3252.63, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 1.2% higher at 1936.34, and the ChiNext Price Index added 1.4%. Kai Wang, Asia equity market strategist at Morningstar, says Trump's initial tariff proposal has not been bad as feared so far, adding: "I think the market has welcomed the lack of antagonism." Tech led the gains, with Beijing Kingsoft Office Software adding 8.0% and iFlyTek rising 5.2%. Decliners include Yonghui Superstores, which dropped 1.3%, and Midea, which was 0.8% lower. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0729 GMT - Nordic markets may open slightly higher with IG calling the OMXS30 up 0.4% at around 2683. President Trump used his speech at the World Economic Forum to say he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down oil prices and called for central banks to cut interest rates, SEB analysts say in a note. "This may be an indication that Trump expects a positive supply shock in the energy market to drive down inflation expectations and thus also lead to lower interest rates." Oil prices and the U.S. two-year yield fell accordingly, SEB says. In Asia, stock markets in China rose Friday morning while markets in Japan moved sideways after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates 25 basis points to 0.5%. OMXS30 closed at 2672.65, OMXN40 at 2547.22 and OBX at 1417.64. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0725 GMT - The FTSE 100 is expected to open five points, or 0.1%, higher according to IG. The index closed up 20 points, or 0.2%, at 8565 points Thursday. U.S. President Trump's comments have again dominated market headlines, Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar says in a note. Trump asked OPEC producers to lower oil prices and argued for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates further. Away from Trump headlines, a key area of focus Friday will be flash purchasing managers' surveys in the eurozone at 0900 GMT, U.K. at 0930 GMT and U.S. at 1445 GMT. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0700 GMT - Trump's latest remarks on his tariff plan suggests "a sense of warming up" in his stance on China, IG market strategist Jun Rong Yeap said. In an interview with Fox News, Trump said of tariffs: "I'd rather not have to use it, but it's a tremendous power over China." However, the analyst cautions that there may be a disparity between what Trump says versus what he does given his unpredictable nature shown during his first term. "That may explain the general sense of caution in Chinese equities despite the headlines--some slight relief on hopes of U.S.-China negotiations, but also fears that things could get worse before it gets better," he adds. Markets seem to be better prepared for a tariff shock this time around and how they will react will likely boil down to tariffs specifics and timing. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0657 GMT - Net inflows from Chinese insurers into the A-share market are projected to total around CNY1 trillion this year, says Lei Meng, China equity strategist at UBS Securities, in commentary. That would compare with CNY740 billion in 2024 and CNY310 billion in 2023. Existing insurance funds' allocation to Chinese equities is expected to rise steadily given falling bond yields, Meng says. "We think the entry of long-term funds and market value management could be two sides of the same coin for the reform of building an investor-oriented A-share market," Meng says. Further, "market value management reform will improve the quality and shareholder returns of listed companies," Meng adds. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0637 GMT - Cnooc's oil production will likely remain robust despite its recently lowered output guidance, Chokwai Lee of Morningstar writes in a note. The recent cut in production targets for 2025-2026 was due to its disposal of the oil-and-gas business in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which mainly comprised nonoperating interests in projects, Lee writes. This will help Cnooc reduce political risks while maintaining competitive production costs, Lee adds. Given Cnooc's strong track record and project pipeline, it will likely be able to meet current production targets through 2027, which still reflect a robust growth rate, Lee says. Morningstar retains its fair value estimate of HK$23.00. Shares are 0.75% lower at HK$18.48. (kimberley.kao@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2025 03:22 ET (08:22 GMT)

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