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

0822 GMT - Hong Kong shares closed lower, dragged by insurance and tech companies. Investors are watching for China's December central government work conference for potential next stimulus measures to boost the nation's economy. China Life Insurance led losses and fell 1.1% and Tencent was down 1.35%. Netease fell 2.05%. Meanwhile, auto stocks led gains, with BYD edging up 0.4% and Geely Automobile rising 1.25%. Li Auto was 1.75% higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.4% lower at 19150.99 and Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.3%. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0754 GMT - Jollibee Foods stands to benefit from its acquisition of a 70% stake in South Korea's Compose Coffee, Maybank Securities' Daphne Sze says in a research report. Since consolidation in August, Compose Coffee has contributed PHP362.3 million in net income and added 2,580 stores to the Philippine-listed company's network, the analyst says. Jollibee said Compose Coffee's performance so far is ahead of targets, with Ebitda margin of 55% versus 42% before the acquisition, and aims to have 4,000 stores with a focus on Greater Seoul in the short term. The brokerage raises the stock's target price to PHP320.00 from PHP314.00 and maintains a buy rating. Shares are 4.0% higher at PHP275.60. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0745 GMT - Baidu's advertising business recovery will likely align with China's potential macroeconomic recovery in 2025-2026, says Morningstar analyst Kai Wang. Despite mounting concerns of Baidu's "continued lack of visibility of recovery," Baidu offsets advertising weakness with cost controls, the analyst notes. A bright spot of the company's 3Q results was Baidu's core adjusted operating margin, which beat market expectations, Morningstar notes. While macro conditions weigh on Baidu's shares, Morningstar's investment thesis remains intact, expecting Baidu to maintain long-term dominance in China's search engine industry, he says. Baidu's shares are last 1.9% higher at HK$78.10. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0738 GMT - Chinese shares ended mixed, as investors await economic data for more clues about the Chinese economy's strength. The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.1% lower at 3263.76, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 0.4% higher and the ChiNext Price Index was flat at 2175.18. Focus this week is on China PMI and industrial profit data. Consumer stocks led the gains, with China Tourism Group Duty Free 0.9% higher and Songcheng Performance Development adding 1.4%. Decliners included Beijing Kingsoft Office Software, which was 3.9% lower, and Foxconn Industrial Internet, which dropped 4.55%. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0735 GMT - The FTSE 100 is expected to open eight points higher, or 0.1%, according to IG. The index closed up 112 points, or 1.4%, on Friday. This week the focus will be on the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes on Tuesday and German inflation data on Thursday, Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar says in a note. Other data include the IFO German business confidence survey at 0900 GMT and U.S. gross domestic product, U.S. initial jobless claims and U.S. durable goods orders on Wednesday. Speeches from European Central Bank officials this week will be carefully watched given the close call in market pricing over whether the ECB will cut rates by 25 basis points or 50bp in December, Kumar says. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0730 GMT - Novartis's midterm sales guidance raise still needs to convince the market as the company has to boost its pipeline with external investment to achieve its goal, Berenberg analysts say in a note. "Though consensus has closed the gap to previous company guidance, we expect upgrades to fade as Novartis enters 2025 and patent expires start to bite," the analysts say. Novartis now expects annual currency-adjusted sales to grow by 6% through 2028, having previously guided for growth of 5%. After two years of annual double-digit sales growth by the Swiss pharma giant, Berenberg analysts forecast mid-single-digit growth in 2025.(helena.smolak@wsj.com)

0725 GMT - Xiaomi may have a few catalysts to boost its earnings visibility, Citi analysts write in a note. Its 2025 export guidance will likely to be provided in the first half of next year and investors should watch for the details of its estimates, they say. The sale-mix will likely to further improve from March with SU7 Ultra shipments and its second SUV model, they add. Further development in offline retail stores could also enhance its sales next year, Citi says. The brokerage maintains the stock's buy rating. Shares were last at HK$28.05.(jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0716 GMT - Kingsoft Cloud Holdings likely benefits from demand in artificial intelligence and the Xiaomi ecosystem, particularly for cloud consumption related to electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and large language model training, Nomura analysts say in a report. The China-based cloud services provider has primarily gained from strong AI training demand over past few quarters, with AI training and inference demand expeted to grow significantly, the analysts add. Nomura raises its 2024-2026 revenue forecasts for Kingsoft Cloud by 7.2%-10.7%. It also lifts the rating for Kingsoft's American depositary receipts to buy from neutral and raises the target price to US$6.70 from US$2.30. The ADRs closed 25% higher at US$7.21 on Friday. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0701 GMT - South Korea's benchmark Kospi closed 1.3% higher at 2534.34, supported by institutional buying. Technology and finance-related stocks were in demand, with index heavyweight Samsung Electronics ending the day 3.4% higher. Semiconductor company SK Hynix and internet conglomerate Naver closed 0.2% and 1.7% higher, respectively. Shinhan Financial and Woori Financial also rose 1.3% and 0.5% each. USD/KRW settled at 1,402.2.50 in Seoul onshore trading. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)

0652 GMT - Pop Mart International Group appears poised for a strong earnings outlook with improved visibility into 2025, Jefferies analysts write in a note. The Chinese toy company's brand popularity has reached a new high in November, highlighted by a K-pop celebrity featuring Pop Mart products during a Vanity Fair interview, they say. The interview likely boosted the Pop Mart brand's recognition among Western audiences and customers, the analysts add. Building on this popularity, they believe Pop Mart's 4Q overseas sales growth momentum could match or even surpass that of 3Q. Jefferies raises the stock's target price to HK$97.20 from HK$80.50, maintaining a buy rating. Shares are last at HK$87.60.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)

0639 GMT - Japanese stocks end higher, led by gains in electronics and chemical stocks, as signs of U.S. economic strength raise hopes for earnings growth. Tokyo Electron gains 4.0% and Mitsubishi Chemical Group rises 3.3%. The Nikkei Stock Average rises 1.3% to 38780.14. USD/JPY is at 154.42, compared with 154.75 late Friday in New York. Investors are focusing on the yen's movements as well as developments in the Russian-Ukraine war. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield declines 1 basis point to 1.070%. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

0533 GMT - Master Style is poised to benefit from its plan to target foreign patients more aggressively, Thanachart Securities' Rata Limsuthiwanpoom says in a research report. The cosmetic surgery hospital is adding agents and becoming more active in marketing and business dealings, the analyst notes. This plan appears to be a good move given already robust growth in the hospital's foreign patient revenue for first nine months of 2024 and the fierce competition in Thailand. Strong growth in foreign-patient numbers should help the Thai hospital better utilize its increased room capacity, the analyst adds. The brokerage raises the stock's target price to THB55.00 from THB54.00, maintaining its buy rating. Shares are unchanged at THB42.25. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2024 03:22 ET (08:22 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.