The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0310 GMT - Tencent's cloud revenue growth could accelerate in 2026 on more aggressive AI investment, Nomura analysts say in a note. Tencent's cloud revenue has lagged behind rivals such as Alibaba and Bytedance due to underinvestment in GPUs to fulfill ever-rising demand from clients, they say. Nomura estimates that Tencent's cloud revenue could grow 20% in 2026, up from estimate growth of 16% in 2025. "In view of the current robust demand for AI cloud services, we are not concerned that Tencent's deeper involvement in the AI cloud market would lead to irrational competition." Nomura maintains a buy call on Tencent but lowers its target price to HK$727.00 from HK$775.00 due to temporary margin pressure. Shares are last at HK$500.50. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0251 GMT - Investors might not be that excited over Mapletree Logistics Trust's latest acquisition, says Citi analyst Brandon Lee in a note. The real-estate investment trust is buying a warehouse in Mumbai for around 3.89 billion rupees, he notes. The deal could be around 0.2%-0.3% accretive to the trust's distribution per unit, says Lee, if it uses largely Singapore-dollar-denominated debt. While he likes the property's profile and location, he reckons the risk of rupee depreciation and partial DPU accretion make the deal less attractive for the REIT's investors. Citi retains its buy rating and S$1.33 target price. Units fall 2.5% to S$1.18. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0237 GMT - Singaporean banks and nonbank financial institutions should benefit from higher safe-haven flows, especially from Middle Eastern wealth centers, amid the Iran conflict, Maybank analysts say in a report. This may boost their wealth management fees and could push up their 1Q net interest income. Wealth-management platform iFAST's topline growth, for instance, may be supported by gains in assets under administration and deposits at its U.K. banking unit, Maybank says. A prolonged war, however, may slow global growth and weigh on credit demand, it says. (amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0047 GMT - Copper prices could have much further to fall if an energy shock from the Middle East conflict leads to a recession, says Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina. The LME three-month copper is already down by 11% so far this month. "The bottom line is that a recovery in the copper price depends on de-escalation and relative peace," says LaFemina. Copper-mining stocks have consequently underperformed since the conflict began, he says. For investors seeking to bet on an eventual recovery, Jefferies reckons Glencore might be the safest option given it has "the added protection of coal and marketing earnings," LaFemina says. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)
0015 GMT - Japanese stocks are broadly lower as concerns about higher energy prices and a shortage of petrochemical products persist amid the Middle East conflict. Chip and metals stocks are leading declines. Renesas Electronics is down 8.3% and Mitsui Kinzoku is 7.7% lower. The dollar is at 159.07 yen, compared with Y159.23 late Friday in New York. Investors are focusing on developments in Iran and crude oil prices. The Nikkei Stock Average is down 3.8% at 51341.67. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)
2350 GMT - LG Electronics is set to stage a strong earnings rebound in 1Q, HSBC's Ricky Seo writes in a research note. The South Korean consumer electronics giant is likely to see narrower losses in its TV business and solid margins from its auto-component unit, supported by steady infotainment and e-powertrain shipments in the January-March period, the analyst says. A potential turnaround to profit at its flat-panel affiliate is also expected to support its bottom line, he adds. HSBC expects LG to post a 1.6 trillion won operating profit in 1Q after an estimated 109 billion won loss in 4Q 2025, and to stay on track for full recovery in 2026. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
2349 GMT - Japanese stocks may fall as concerns about higher energy prices and a shortage of petrochemical products persist amid the Middle East conflict. Nikkei futures open at 50990 on the SGX, down 1995 points from Friday and down 1965 points from Thursday. Japanese markets were closed Friday for a national holiday. The dollar is at 159.20 yen, compared with Y159.71 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on developments in Iran and crude oil prices. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.4% to 53372.53 on Thursday. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)
2336 GMT - JB Hi-Fi's bull at Bell Potter adjusts its earnings view as household budgets in Australia become increasingly stretched and freight costs rise. It also highlights the task of beating 8.2% sales growth recorded in 4Q25 when JB Hi-Fi benefited from demand for Nintendo Switch 2. "We anticipate AI laptop price increases to flow through the end of 3Q26 and other potential freight cost impacts from onshore suppliers to impact gross margins," analyst Chami Ratnapala says. "However, we see JB Hi-Fi better placed to absorb some margin pressures versus other names in our coverage." Bell Potter trims its net profit forecasts by 4% and 8% in FY 2027 and FY 2028, respectively. Its price target falls by 24% to A$90.00/share. JB Hi-Fi is down 0.2% at A$71.58. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2334 GMT - Hub24 gets a new bull at Macquarie following the stock's recent material derating on concerns about AI disruption and broader conflict-related selling. One of the investment bank's analysts tells clients in a note that the Australian wealth platform should continue to take market share over the next one to two years. Raising their recommendation to outperform from neutral, they forecast annual earnings growth of more than 20% over the medium term. Worries about risks from AI-driven disruption are overblown, the note adds. Its target price is cut 13% to A$92.25. Shares are down 2.8% at A$77.05. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2317 GMT - National Australia Bank loses its bull at Macquarie, which warns of the potential hit to business customers from oil-price linked inflation. Lowering their recommendation to neutral from outperform, Macquarie points out that customers in agriculture and transport are particularly exposed due to rising fuel and fertilizer costs. It flags manufacturing and construction as being vulnerable to higher energy costs and any global trade disruption, adding that disruption to fuel supply could deliver a broad hit. NAB is the Australian lender most exposed to higher-risk sectors, it says. Macquarie cuts its target price by 3.2% to A$45.50/share. Shares are down 2% at A$44.65 early. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2242 GMT - Macquarie analysts move to an underweight position on Australian banks, citing earnings risks stemming from the Iran conflict. They see the inflationary impact of higher oil prices increasing the likelihood of interest-rate hikes, which would put further pressure on consumers and discretionary spending. This in turn could weigh on lenders' credit growth and contribute to higher rates of arrears, Macquarie says. "While the situation remains highly uncertain and fragile, we expect banks to take provision overlays in upcoming results, with impairment charges likely to rise vis-à-vis our current base case," Macquarie says. It downgrades fiscal 2026 bank earnings forecasts by 1-2%. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2239 GMT - The impact of the conflict in Iran and disruption to energy supply is "primarily a timing and margin event, rather than a structural reset" for Australian industrial stocks, says Morgan Stanley. Earnings could come under pressure in the near term. Still, analyst Joseph Michael believes medium-term growth drivers are largely intact and investors will increasingly look through disruption in FY 2026. Its top picks are Orica, James Hardie, Qantas and Reece, assuming any disruption is short-lived. Prolonged disruption would like see most stocks trade lower. In that scenario, investors should rotate toward defensive stocks and companies with pricing power. "Qantas would drop in our order of preference in this scenario given higher fuel exposure and demand risk," MS says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 22, 2026 23:10 ET (03:10 GMT)
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