DJ Global Equities Roundup: Market Talk

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

1943 ET - Japanese shares may edge lower but losses are likely to be limited amid mild yen weakness and overnight gains in Wall Street stocks. After Friday's dovish tapering speech by Fed Chair Powell, a September taper seems very unlikely, Oanda says, adding the Fed is behind the curve and a pullback in the stock market will probably have to wait. Nikkei futures opens down 40 points at 27705 on the SGX. USD/JPY was at 109.95, compared with 109.75 at Monday's Tokyo stock market close. The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.5% higher at 27789.29 on Monday. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

1828 ET - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is on track to open higher after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite extended their records. ASX futures are up by 0.2%, suggesting that the benchmark will add to its week-opening 0.2% gain. Ahead of the open, gold miner Regis Resources said FY profit fell 27%, while aged care home operator Regis Healthcare swung to an FY profit but declined to give guidance due to Covid pandemic uncertainty. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. (stuart.condie@wsj.com; @StuartLCondie)

1804 ET - Hospitals and health facilities are racing to obtain liquid oxygen used to treat Covid-19 patients, with demand from such customers currently running three to five times normal levels, says Rich Craig, a vice president at the Compressed Gas Association, a trade group representing producers. Big users of liquid oxygen also include steel makers, glass manufacturers and companies launching spacecraft, but liquid oxygen makers are prioritizing getting liquid oxygen to health sites, according to Craig. Executives at space companies including SpaceX have flagged the availability of the substance as a challenge. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

1735 ET - Zoom said customers with 10 or fewer employees represented about 36% of 2Q revenue, roughly in line with the year-ago period but down from the 38% high in 3Q last year. Company officials had noted that group of customers would be more volatile and that they expect that category to continue to decline as a percentage of revenue. "Our online business will be a headwind in the coming quarters as smaller customers and consumers adjust to the evolving environment," company officials say. Shares slip 11% after hours. (maria.armental@wsj.com; @mjarmental)

1659 ET - Canadian stocks decline as the energy sector drags following disruptions in Gulf Coast refineries in the US as a result of Hurricane Ida. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index falls 0.2% to 20594 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 Index drops 0.3% to 1233. Petrus Resources soars 30% after it said it entered into a series of deals to cut its total debt by about $49M by issuing $25.8M of its shares and extending its maturity date on a loan. In economic news, Canada's quarterly current-account surplus widened during the April-to-June period as exports of goods rose. (kimberly.chin@wsj.com, @mskimberlychin)

1605 ET - US stocks are mostly higher on continued market optimism following Chairman Powell's reiteration that the inflation surge is temporary and that the Fed will reverse easy-money policies later in the year. Tech gets a boost from expected low interest rates, with Apple up 3.1%. Oil gains 0.7% with much of the Gulf of Mexico's offshore production shut due to Hurricane Ida. Ten-year Treasury yields fall to 1.277% from 1.311% Friday. Airlines fall after the EU recommended halting nonessential travel to the US, with United, Delta and American all down more than 3%. The S&P 500 gains 0.4% to 4528 and the Nasdaq jumps 0.9% to 15265, with both at fresh highs, while the Dow falls 0.2% to 35399. (jonathan.vuocolo@wsj.com; @jonvuocolo)

1548 ET - Mexican state oil company Pemex says it has fully restored production at 125 wells in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap oilfields, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, which were shut down after an explosion and fire at an offshore platform earlier this month. The affected wells produce a total of 421K b/d of oil. Pemex estimated lost output as a result of the accident at 1.6M barrels of crude oil. Seven workers were killed in the explosion and six others injured. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1504 ET - Though wheat prices are down Monday, Commerzbank analysts still expect tighter supply to support prices moving forward. A poor spring wheat crop in the US and Canada, along with lowered production numbers for Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, have crimped global output, says Commerzbank. The investment bank notes that consultant firm SovEcon on Friday cut its 2021-22 estimates for Russian exports to a five-year low. (Hardika.Singh@wsj.com)

1434 ET - Assessing damage caused by Tropical Storm Ida on grain export infrastructure could take at least a week, Futures International estimates. "We look for this week to be a wash for Gulf exports. Adding to the demand misery were overall poor USDA export inspections. We think downtime will be temporary for the Gulf unless power is out for more than a week," Futures International says. In part because of the storm's impact, grain futures fall led by corn, which is down nearly 2%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1430 ET - Boeing is the prime beneficiary of the House Armed Services Committee's markup of the Pentagon's fiscal 2022 budget request. The committee reallocates $3B from planned spending in Afghanistan. It adds a dozen F-15EX combat jets for the Air Force and 12 more F/A-18s for the Navy, as well as two more P-8 Poseidon jets. General Dynamics gains a DDG-51 destroyer. The Senate Armed Services Committee and appropriations committees have yet to release detailed mark ups. (doug.cameron@wsj.com; @dougcameron)

1354 ET - Revenue from collaboration applications is expected to nearly double by 2025, according to International Data Corp. The research firm pointed to outsized growth in 2020 as demand surged with people working and studying remotely, driving 33% year-over-year growth. While all top five vendors--Microsoft, Google, Zoom, Cisco and Slack--saw double-digit growth, Zoom led the pack with revenue more than tripling from a year earlier, IDC says. "While consumers and early adopter businesses had widely embraced collaborative applications prior to the pandemic, the market saw five years' worth of new users in the first six months of 2020," says Wayne Kurtzman, research director for social and collaboration at IDC. (maria.armental@wsj.com; @mjarmental)

1327 ET - Exxon Mobil is determining if Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana yesterday, affected any of its offshore and onshore facilities, spokeswoman Sarah Nordin says. The oil company's Baytown and Beaumont facilities are operating normally and its Baton Rouge refinery didn't sustain any significant damage during the storm, she says. But the Baton Rouge facility is shutting down units to stabilize operations, Nordin says. "Once we confirm we have access to needed feedstocks and third-party utilities to stabilize our systems, we will begin the process of returning to normal operations," she says. The company says it's also transporting refined products from unaffected regions to customers in the most severely affected areas. (mark.maurer@wsj.com; @markgmaurer)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 30, 2021 19:43 ET (23:43 GMT)

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