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

0823 ET - President Trump's latest slate of tariffs will be shown and written about for years to come because they are so illogical and absurd, Wedbush says in a research note. President Trump stunned markets by announcing a suite of tariff hikes on major trading partners, including 20% for the European Union and 34% on China. Wedbush says the tariff numbers shown by President Trump were factually incorrect of what other countries charge the US. "We have to assume this is the start of a negotiation and these rates will not hold," Wedbush says. "Ultimately our view is these numbers would throw the US into a clear recession and cause stagflation almost immediately... if they hold." (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

0823 ET - European telecom equipment suppliers like Nokia and Ericsson could benefit from the absence of new U.S. tariff announcements for Mexico and Canada, JPMorgan analysts write in a note. Mexico and Canada weren't mentioned in the notes given to reporters after the announcement, they note. "If Mexico, in particular, isn't targeted, then equipment suppliers like Ericsson and Nokia would be less impacted by direct tariffs given they assemble large parts of their equipment for the U.S. market in Mexico." In the case that no new tariffs on Mexican products are announced in the future, the outlook would be relatively positive for Nokia and Ericsson. Nokia and Ericsson shares are down 6.45% and 3.1%, respectively. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0814 ET - The sweeping new U.S. tariff plan is worse than expected for broadline and hardline retailers, with RH and Best Buy likely to be the hardest hit, analysts at Citi say. Even after RH's steep premarket selloff, Citi downgrades the luxury-furniture to neutral from buy. Citi says RH faces significant sourcing exposure to new reciprocal tariffs, balance-sheet leverage that becomes a major concern if sales weaken, a lack of pricing power and potential anti-American sentiment risk to its European stores. Citi also cuts Best Buy to neutral from buy amid concerns that big-ticket categories like consumer electronics may see weakness, high tariff exposure will weigh on earnings and its business is likely to see more share loss. RH tumbles 30% premarket, while Best Buy sheds 12%. (colin.kellaher@wsj.com)

0808 ET - Rio Tinto's CEO says shareholders "shouldn't be too worried" about the escalating tariff war, saying the world's second largest miner by value will navigate any changes in trading between nations. Rio Tinto both runs big operations in and is a big supplier of foreign commodities into the U.S., Jakob Stausholm tells investors in London. "There might be certain things that go in our favor, there might be certain things that don't go in our favor," he says. Aluminum tariffs pose a challenge for the miner, which is the biggest aluminum producer in the West and ships significant amounts of the metal into the U.S. from Canada. In that business, "there will be an impact, but it is manageable," Stausholm says. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

0806 ET - Pet Valu says it's catering to customer demands for more Canadian pet food, and is introducing price reductions of up to 15% on made-in-Canada Performatrin Prime dry dog and cat food. In past weeks, Pet Valu, like other Canadian retailers, has seen an uptick in demand for locally sourced products in the face of mounting US tariffs. Pet Valu has already changed its marketing to help shoppers pick out Canadian products, and the price changes are its latest effort to draw Canadian shoppers seeking made-in-Canada items.(adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0756 ET - Tariffs and the overall macro environment present downside risks in 2H for trucking and logistics, according to TD Cowen in a note. "Outlook will likely remain measured at best as tariff/macro related shocks remain a significant overhang," say the analysts. "Expect near-term pressure to persist on the transport group." Analysts add that the impact of harsh weather is expected to show up in 1Q results. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

0754 ET - The inclusion of beer to the list of aluminium-derivative products facing a 25% tariff in the U.S. is concerning to the sector, trade organization Brewers of Europe says. The product was included in an annex of the main list of products affected, along with empty beer cans. The U.S. is European brewers' second most important export market for beer in both value and volume terms, the Brussels-based entity says. "We are currently seeking further clarity on the exact products captured by this new announcement," Brewers of Europe says. The organization urged de-escalation measures and to cut tariffs on beer in order to benefit consumers and business in both the EU and the U.S. (michael.susin@wsj.com)

0754 ET - HSBC and Standard Chartered's loans are exposed to economies that saw a sharp rise in tariff rates in the latest U.S. announcement, namely in Asia, J.P.Morgan says in a research note. A decline in transactional banking fees, which made up a chunk of each of the bank's revenues, may also be a consequence of the fresh tariffs, analysts write. Globally, heavier U.S. tariffs would lead to weaker loan demand and asset quality concerns, they note. Both banks offer around 11% of total return on 2025 earnings estimates, which should provide some support at a time of elevated macro risk and volatility, they add. Shares extend intraday losses as HSBC falls 6.7% and StanChart sheds 9.9% in London. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

0747 ET - New U.S. tariffs have probably wiped out hopes for an uplift to U.K. growth and thrown government fiscal plans into jeopardy, according to Alan Vallance, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. "Anything which injects added cost, complexity and uncertainty into the global economic trading system is never good for growth, prosperity or rising living standards," he says. Still, the U.K. can take comfort in that it faces the minimum 10% tariff imposed on goods imports by the Trump administration. Moving forward, the government shouldn't take a knee-jerk, tit-for-tat response to the news, Vallance adds. "Efforts to take tension out of the situation and calm the global trade system should be the priority of the U.K. government." (edward.frankl@wsj.com)

0744 ET - European semiconductor manufacturers will be hit by direct tariffs, or by tariffs on equipment containing chips, JPMorgan analysts write in a note. "The large cap European semi companies don't have U.S. manufacturing and thus will face tariffs on product shipping into the U.S.," they say. As a result, semiconductor and semiconductor equipment companies' sales and earnings could be hit in the turbulent quarters ahead. ASM International has no U.S. manufacturing, but has disclosed that 23% of its 2024 procurement came from the U.S. Meanwhile, ASML Holding has some sub-assembly manufacturing in the U.S., but the majority of the final assembly of their tools occurs in the Netherlands, they say. Therefore, both companies would be exposed to tariffs, depending on the rules implemented. ASM International and ASML holding shares are down 4.7% and 4.9%, respectively. ( najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0743 ET - Trump's tariffs will threaten travel on both sides of the Atlantic, weighing on already weak U.S. outbound travel demand as well as European tourism to the U.S., Barclays analysts say in a research note. The North Atlantic region is crucial to the economics of European flag carriers, leaving low-cost airlines in a clearly better place than the likes of Air France-KLM, International Consolidated Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa. In addition, tariffs risk worsening aviation supply-chain complexities, further delaying aircraft deliveries, the analysts say. They could also cause spending per aircraft to increase and affect airlines' fleet growth plans as they attempt take delivery of planes in regions where tariffs are lowest, the analysts say. (pierre.bertrand@wsj.com)

0738 ET - Luxury companies might have limited capacity to offset the impact of tariffs on imports into the U.S., Barclays analysts say in a note. The luxury sector has strong pricing power, but companies have already implemented significant price increases over the past years, alienating some consumers. Additional price hikes in the U.S. could hurt demand more than usual, they say. Salvatore Ferragamo could be one of the most impacted by the levies due to its high exposure to the U.S. and its lesser pricing power, as the brand is in the midst of a turnaround process. Considering the high 31% tariff level applied to goods from Switzerland, Richemont and Swatch Group are also among the most-impacted players. Salvatore Ferragamo falls 3.7%, while Richemont and Swatch trade 6% and 7.2% lower, respectively. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2025 08:23 ET (12:23 GMT)

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