** Shares of Australia's Wesfarmers WES.AX rise 1.2% to A$76.37
** Stock gains as much as 1.5% to A$76.58 earlier in the day, hitting its highest since late Aug. 2024
** Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect the conglomerate's hardware chain Bunnings to outperform rival Metcash MTS.AX in 1H25, owing to its over-exposure to trade services
** Expect Wesfarmers' Kmart operations to continue to benefit from current trading conditions, potentially from recent underperformance in the Smiggle brand, owned by Premier Investments PMV.AX
** Brokerage expects market to look out for commentary by WES on online competition from rivals such as PDD-owned PDD.O Temu, and Amazon AMZN.O
** Look for commentary on tariff impacts to Kmart, potential to grow exposure to underutilised factories in China - MS
** Brokerage has "underweight" rating on WES and A$60.7 PT
** Stock up 6.7% YTD
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com;))
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