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

0844 ET - Nvidia says it's partnering with other industry leaders to form a new group, dubbed the Open Secure AI Alliance, to build and share open tools that promote responsible use of and trust in artificial intelligence. "Open source software is a critical pillar of the global economy," Nvidia says on the company blog. "It underpins cloud computing, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, government and internet services by making technology accessible and observable to communities of experts." The Open Secure AI Alliance will work to remediate and disclose vulnerabilities using open technologies. Nvidia says the world needs both closed and open models. "For cybersecurity, open models and open harnesses are essential because they democratize defensive capabilities, increase transparency for defenders, enable cyber defense while protecting data, and complement frontier closed models with customizable, localized controls." (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0841 ET - Sterling falls to a three-week low against the euro as U.K. fiscal concerns weigh. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government has announced tax cuts to electricity bills and business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues along with a cap on bus fares. "We are beginning to see a few jitters among investors as the tax cuts unveiled so far both appear unfunded and raise the risk of tax hikes and additional borrowing down the road," Ebury economist Enrique Diaz-Alvarez says in a note. The euro rises to as high as 0.8559 pounds. Sterling falls 0.1% to $1.3383. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0837 ET - AstraZeneca is drawing lessons from China's rapid ascent as a center of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry and wants to move at the same speed as local players, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says. "We want to operate at Chinese speed," Soriot says on a call with reporters. Chinese companies are very innovative and they move extremely fast and, while the U.K. drugmaker collaborates with them, it will increasingly compete with them as they expand globally, he says. Besides speed, AstraZeneca is also trying to emulate Chinese companies' simplification and focus on key technologies, Soriot says. Other industries haven't reacted as fast as they should have, and AstraZeneca doesn't want to fall in the same trap, its CEO says. Shares rise 1.4% (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0830 ET - Europe is increasingly competing with emerging markets to attract investments from the pharmaceutical industry, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says on a call with reporters. Investments will follow market access to the most innovative drugs, and countries that five or ten years ago would have approved medicines later than Europe are now moving faster, he says. Many countries around the world want pharma research-and-development investments because of their economic benefits, and Europe faces huge competition from emerging markets, Soriot adds. Shares rise 1.75%.(adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0823 ET - Europe and Japan are falling behind the U.S. and increasingly China on access to pharma innovation, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says on a call with reporters. Pricing talks are under way with many governments around the world, particularly those chosen by the U.S. to compare its prices to, Soriot says. Talks with the Japanese government are going well, but it remains to be seen what happens in Europe, he says. The drug-price rebates adopted by Germany in its recently passed healthcare reform were disappointing, Soriot says. While the German government has signaled it wants to reform reimbursements of new products, that hasn't taken place yet, AstraZeneca's CEO says. Shares rise 1.7%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0813 ET - Copper prices rise in afternoon trading as a pause in fighting between the U.S. and Iran pushes oil lower, easing concerns over inflation pressures and global economic growth. Three-month futures on the London Metal Exchange are up 1.2% to $13,769.50 a metric ton. Focus in recent weeks has been on potential new U.S. import tariffs and Chinese demand. "In China, the premium paid for imported copper over local supplies in China rose to $100 a ton, up from $20 a ton in late January, a sign of strong demand," ANZ analysts say. "The market is also bracing for the possibility that the Trump administration imposes levies on imports of copper, which continues to attract increasing volumes of metal into the U.S." Meanwhile, a deadly storm in Chile disrupted production at major copper mines, adding further supply concerns. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0811 ET - Groupe Dynamite's shares still haven't recovered from the sharp decline following 1Q results. While there has been much discussion about the slowing growth profile, according to Stifel's Martin Landry in a note, he says that on a two-year stacked basis, comparable sales grew 35.6% in 1Q and are on pace to grow at 37.6% in 2Q. He believes the clothing retailer "can sustainably grow its earnings at +20% for the coming years." He calls the growth "a healthy pace that we don't believe is fully reflected in valuation." He thinks investors with a long-term horizon should revisit Groupe Dynamite. "We believe the market may be underestimating GRGD's growth profile, creating an attractive entry point," Landry adds. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0750 ET - There is growing competitive tension between Uber and Waymo, after the two ended their relationship in Phoenix, Waymo's first partner market, after three years, Melius Research says in a note. Waymo has increasingly sought to operate alone as it scales, according to analysts Conor Cunningham and Patrick Coleman. While some investors think Uber can serve as an autonomous vehicle marketplace connecting demand to supply, others think Waymo is one of the few autonomous-vehicle models that has proven it can scale, the analysts say.(katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0743 ET - Centrica's half-year results are a temporary setback and not a change to its story, AlphaValue analyst Pierre-Alexandre Ramondenc says in a research note. The British Gas owner is steadily investing cash into more stable businesses, including regulated energy assets, renewables and customer technology, the analysts say. This makes earnings more predictable over time and leaves room for the shares to gain value relative to peers, the analysts add. There is scope for Centrica to evolve toward a more diversified, RWE-like utility company, they add. Shares trade 0.6% lower at 162.05 pounds. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)

0734 ET - Comcast recently reported weaker attendance across its Orlando theme parks, Benchmark says in a research note, and the trend doesn't bode well for Disney. "Epic Universe's continued strength also highlights the competitive risk from Disney's lack of a meaningful near-term domestic addition capable of materially driving attendance," analyst Mike Hickey adds. Broader Orlando softness could delay Disney's expected attendance recovery and pressure hotel demand, potentially creating a negative read-through for the remainder of the year. The key test, Hickey says, is whether pricing and guest-spending trends can hold, as higher travel costs and consumer caution weigh on industry attendance. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0732 ET - Uber's pending acquisition of the German food-delivery operator Delivery Hero could have a ripple effect across the rideshare industry, Melius Research analysts say. The deal would extend Uber's scale in an area where it is weakest geographically and could force smaller players such as Lyft to consider mergers and acquisitions, the analysts say. Uber's global network already carries scale, depth and breadth that a single-product platform struggles to match, the analysts say, so this deal could push competitors to try to keep up. The delivery industry has already seen a pickup in acquisitions, but nothing approaches the scale of the Delivery Hero deal, they say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0620 ET - Syensqo still offers good value, Bernstein analyst James Hooper and Sebastien Afoy say in a research note. The Belgian chemicals company's strategic review of its performance and care division should enable more focus on the materials division, where there is higher potential, the analysts say. The trajectory of the share price depends on the outlook of the materials division, and how much value Syensqo could get from scaling the performance and care division, the analysts add. Bernstein raises its price target on the stock to 78 euros from 71 euros. Shares trade 0.2% higher at 71.2 euros. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2026 08:44 ET (12:44 GMT)

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