Global Equities Roundup: Market Talk

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

1253 ET - The head of President Trump's co-owned cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, tried to dispel concerns that the firm's stablecoins could be used as a conduit for companies and countries to funnel money to the president. "I would completely dispute that notion," CEO Zach Witkoff tells CNBC's "Squawk Box," saying the company's stablecoins have high volumes and proof that costumers are actually using it. Facing skepticism from the hosts, Witkoff says Trump was a successful businessman before he became president and that the stablecoins are a small piece of the Trump business empire. Witkoff adds that he has never talked to Trump about the business. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1251 ET - Dollar General and Dollar Tree have both been major beneficiaries of the trade-down economy, delivering consistent overall and comparable sales growth for several quarters running, according to a recent report from Placer.ai. While both chains offer a broad assortment of goods, each has carved out its own niche. Dollar General has emerged as a go-to stop for routine essentials, and the company's stores have seen an influx in visits as inflation-weary consumers tighten their budgets against rising gas prices, the location-analytics firm says. Dollar Tree, on the other hand, is a destination for shorter, mission-driven trips that often skew more discretionary. Both chains are scheduled to report earnings on Thursday. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1250 ET - Visits to Best Buy were up 2.2% in 2Q compared with a year earlier, according to a recent report from Placer.ai. The increase marks the chain's first quarterly year-over-year visit gain in at least four years, the location-analytics firm adds. The shift comes as Best Buy is investing in its in-store experience, launching shop-in-shop Ikea locations and rolling out Meta Labs, which allow interested customers to explore Meta's lineup of artificial-intelligence glasses and virtual-reality headsets. Placer.ai says Best Buy's growth was geographically broad, with visits increasing in more than 40 states. "Time will tell if the turnaround can sustain its momentum," the report reads. "But for now at least, the chain is reaching more shoppers and giving them more reasons to stop by." Best Buy is scheduled to report 2Q earnings on Thursday. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1239 ET - A look at hyperscalers' most recent earnings suggests that the momentum behind custom silicon chips, or ASICs, remains strong, creating upside potential for custom chip makers Broadcom and Marvell Technology, JPMorgan analysts write in a note. Google's most recent results suggested continued investment in its internal TPUs, they note, while Amazon "was much more explicit in validating the custom ASIC thesis" in touting demand for its Trainium chips. "AI infrastructure is becoming increasingly heterogeneous, with hyperscalers optimizing across GPUs, custom AI ASICs, CPUs, networking, and connectivity to improve TCO, performance per watt, supply assurance, and workload-specific efficiency - all of which are highly supportive of our top picks: AVGO and MRVL," the analysts write. Broadcom ticks up 0.4%, while Marvell trades up 5.6%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1232 ET - The most recent earnings cycle for hyperscalers and cloud service providers suggests that returns on artificial-intelligence investments are improving, JPMorgan analysts write in a note. "The bottom line here is that while it may still be too early to declare victory on AI capex ROI, the green shoots are clearly evident," they write. Commentary from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon points to stronger demand visibility and attractive returns for incremental capacity deployments, with Amazon's commentary in particular implying that investments in servers and networking break even in two or three years. "These trends suggest that prior capital investments may now be translating into stronger backlogs, accelerating cloud business growth, and improving cloud business profitability, though the durability of these benefits remains to be seen," the analysts write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1219 ET - This could be one of Canada's best years for IPOs since before the pandemic. According to Scotiabank's Jean-Michel Gauthier, the year-to-date tally of eight IPOs is set to exceed 2022's full-year total--also eight--making 2026 the strongest year for new listings since 2019/2020, excluding the exceptional boom of 2021. Gauthier notes that gross proceeds of C$3.1 billion would match 2017 levels, ignoring again the results of 2021. "Accounting for inflation, 2026 could thus be one of the strongest years since the mid-2000s, which was the last period of sustained Canadian market IPO activity," Gauthier adds. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1213 ET -- Qatar's residential property market shows renewed momentum in the second quarter, with transaction volumes rising 23.6% from the previous quarter and 15.8% on year to 755 deals, real-estate consultancy ValuStrat says. The median transaction value increases to QAR3 million, around $823,000, up 8.2% on year, while ready-property mortgage transactions reach QAR16 billion across 335 deals. The growth in purchases and mortgage activity indicates that underlying buyer confidence remains resilient, says Anum Hasan, head of research for Qatar at ValuStrat. Residential capital values remained broadly stable, with the ValuStrat Price Index edging only slightly down to 97.8 points in the second quarter from 98.0 in the first. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

1208 ET - Most major Gulf stock markets rise despite sustained tensions between Washington and Tehran and continued uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index and Qatar's QE Index each gain 0.5%, Abu Dhabi's benchmark index rises 0.2%, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index falls 0.5%. U.S. officials say more oil is passing through the Strait of Hormuz than tracking data indicate, with some vessels crossing undetected because their transponders are switched off. Another oil tanker was struck near the strait overnight as diplomatic efforts have yet to produce a substantive breakthrough. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

1147 ET - Smart glasses and similar devices that come with cameras and microphones should be regulated more strictly to safeguard everyone's privacy, Norway's minister of digitalization and public governance, Karianne Tung, says in a government statement. The government must take action to ensure smart glasses can't be misused to monitor others in public spaces, she says. Banning certain functions such as facial recognition in public areas might be a step in the right direction, she notes. Tung says she plans to set up an expert group to advise the ministry on how to regulate smart glasses. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

1140 ET - After a strong summer rally, potash producer Nutrien has now closed a valuation discount gap, says National Bank of Canada's Ahmed Abdullah, prompting the firm to cut its rating to sector perform from outperform. Nutrien is up more than 10% since Abdullah initiated coverage back on July 12. While a modestly higher multiple is warranted, he says, "the revision reflects more of peer multiple dynamics and not earnings changes at this juncture." Even with the downgrade, Abdullah raises the target price to $77 from $74. Nutrien is off 2.7% lower at $72.31. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1022 ET - SpaceX's artificial-intelligence ambitions are coming into sharper focus, and JPMorgan analysts they feel increasingly bullish on Grok. SpaceX recently earlier this month closed its acquisition of Cursor, a move the analysts say in a research note marks an important step in building out its enterprise AI capabilities. "Importantly, we have already seen the benefits of Cursor data incorporated into Grok's supplemental training, with tangible improvements in recent model performance," they write. Looking ahead, Grok 5--expected by December--should represent a substantial step up in scale and capacity. "While near-term AI revenue is largely driven by premium compute deals, we expect improving Grok monetization, particularly among enterprises, to become an increasingly important driver over time," the analysts say. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1005 ET - Dick's Sporting Goods says Foot Locker is facing more challenges than originally anticipated in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Markets there are more competitive with more promotions than in the U.S., executives tell analysts on a call. Consumers in those regions are also more cautious, contributing to excess inventory and margin pressure, they say. The executives didn't give specifics about how much of a margin impact the region is having compared with the U.S., but emphasized that the challenges were a contributing factor in cutting Foot Locker's annual same-store sales guidance. Dick's Sporting Goods plunges 24%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2026 12:54 ET (16:54 GMT)