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

1012 ET - Artificial intelligence has been the dominant force in equity markets so far this year, despite a complex geopolitical situation, MSCI chief researcher Ashley Lester says. "A war, the fall of a sovereign government and NATO's most serious test in decades barely dented an equity rally," Lester writes. Instead, significant earnings growth concentrated in a relatively small number of semiconductor and AI infrastructure companies drove markets higher, the researcher says. "Exposure to AI infrastructure has dominated equity returns this year." The Netherlands is the best-performing market in the world, led by supplier of chip-making equipment ASML. The Dutch AEX is up over 16% so far this year, while ASML has soared by around 55%. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1003 ET - Mega-cap initial public offerings didn't have significant impact on the performance of index-tracking funds, MSCI chief researcher Ashley Lester says. Several index providers changed rules to fast-track the addition of large, newly-listed companies, including SpaceX. The changes prompted questions over whether their inclusion would significantly change the composition of index funds. "The answer is less dramatic than news coverage would lead you to believe," Lester writes. New listings amounted to less than 2% of total U.S. market capitalization, Lester says. Because index funds weight toward the amount of a company's stock that is tradeable, rather than its total market capitalization, the impact was minimal, Lester says. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0958 ET - Colgate-Palmolive executives say they are remaining vigilant about rising costs, even as the company's margins rise. The consumer-goods company was able to post strong profit margins in 2Q and raise its margin outlook thanks to careful price hikes, cost-cutting measures and a bump from tariff refunds, Chief Financial Officer Stan Sutula tells analysts on a call. Still, management is cautious about rising costs for oil and supplies. Sutula says he expects raw material costs and tariffs will be higher in 2H than they were in 2Q. "We have our eyes wide open," he says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0956 ET - Moderna posts revenue of $145 million in 2Q, up about 2% from last year. JPMorgan analysts point out, though, that the company's Covid-19 vaccine business is heavily weighted toward the back half of the year. "We do not expect significant focus on this quarter's top-line results specifically," they say in a research note. As for the company's pipeline, its new norovirus vaccine missed expectations in an ongoing late-stage trial, and Moderna anticipates potential approval of its new seasonal influenza vaccine on August 5th. "This would represent Moderna's fifth approved product, though we think it will take more to set the company on a new trajectory," the analysts say. Moderna is up 1%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0946 ET - Newell Brands doubled its estimate for inflation costs this year. The consumer-goods company now expects inflation-related costs to be $200 million, up from the $100 million estimate it gave at the start of the year, executives tell analysts on a call. Newell still raised its outlook because it is earning more profit and anticipating a refund on tariffs. Executives also say they think inflation may be peaking, at least on some products such as resin. "We continue to believe that a meaningful portion of the inflation we are facing will roll over and normalize at some point," CFO Mark Erceg says. Newell rockets 25%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0933 ET - AbbVie reports 2Q results ahead of expectations, JPMorgan analysts say in a research note. The top-line beat was fairly broad based, with Both Skyrizi and Rinvoq modestly ahead of estimates. "On the call, we will be closely listening for any updated expectations on 1) uptake of Skyrizi/Rinvoq (and updated guidance for both) and 2) business development commentary," the analysts say. AbbVie is off 1% in early trading, after lowering its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to account for its acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0921 ET -- Magna International is improving its margins even while the world produces fewer vehicles. TD Cowen's Brian Morrison says in a report 2Q results "reinforce Magna's margin improvement story with adjusted EBIT margin expanding y/y to 6.2% despite lower y/y global light vehicle production." At the same time, sales increased 3% to $10.98 billion, on "anticipated benefit of FX y/y and new program launches, partially offset by lower global production y/y." This bodes well for the company. Morrison says that along with strong free cash flow, he sees upside potential to consensus and the applied multiple." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0906 ET - In Germany, housing permits have been rising for the last three quarters, an early sign of recovery in housing demand, Heidelberg Materials Chief Executive Dominik von Achten says in an interview. People are holding back amid the geopolitical volatility but the rebound in housing is coming, even if it is very hard to predict when, Von Achten says. "The pipeline is getting filled, but the projects don't get largely executed yet," he adds. The head of the German building-materials group expects both interest rates and inflation to come down before a rebound can take place. Shares trade 2.9% lower at 159.8 euros. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)

0850 ET - Novo Nordisk's share-price fall on news that a cardiovascular drug candidate failed in a trial seems understandable given that it removes a multibillion-dollar sales opportunity from the Danish pharmaceutical company's pipeline, J.P. Morgan analysts say in a note. The lack of efficacy the Danish pharmaceutical company's drug, Ziltivekimab, showed in the late-stage clinical trial suggests two other studies that are still under way are highly unlikely to show any benefit, the analysts say. That said, consensus estimates for the drug were relatively modest at $1.2 billion for 2033, they add. Novo Nordisk shares fall 7%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0841 ET - Bitcoin edges lower amid uncertainty over key U.S. crypto legislation and the Middle East conflict. The Clarity Act, which aims to establish a framework for regulating digital assets, has stalled in the Senate and it's unclear whether the bill will receive a vote before summer recess starts on August 8. Meanwhile, U.S. officials said Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups agreed to disarm but Israel is yet to comment. Investors are also digesting a batch of U.S. tech earnings this week. Apple shares fell after forecasting weaker sales growth while Amazon gained after posting stronger-than-expected revenue. Elsewhere, crypto-hoarding firm Strategy swung to a quarterly loss, citing bitcoin's decline. Bitcoin falls 1.4% to $63,811, according to LSEG. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0834 ET - Newell Brands says it doesn't want to raise prices again because its price hikes last year put a damper on sales momentum. The company behind Sharpie and Rubbermaid is using cost control efforts and some of the benefit from tariff refunds to avoid raising consumer prices again, executives tell analysts on a call. Newell raised prices three times last year in April, May and July as new tariffs threatened to drive up costs. "It did cause us to lose some positive sales momentum," CFO Mark Erceg says. Management also expects inflation will eventually normalize, Erceg says. Newell jumps 20% premarket. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0651 ET - Ferrari's strong second quarter, which beat earnings expectations by 5%, was driven by the F80 supercar rollout and stronger-than-expected personalization revenue, Deutsche Bank analyst Nicolai Kempf writes. While management raised full-year guidance, the upgrade was broadly in line with consensus expectations, limiting the scope for estimate revisions and likely weighing slightly on sentiment, Kempf adds. "That said, we view the updated outlook as conservative." Following a 30.5% EBIT margin in the first half, the implied second-half margin of around 28.9% appears cautious given the F80 ramp-up and a richer product mix supported by the 296 Speciale family. "As a result, we remain positive on the story and see scope for another guidance upgrade alongside Q3 results." Shares rise 1.1%.