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

1511 ET - U.S. cannabis operators largely showed a return to year-over-year growth in 2Q, which is well-timed as the industry waits for a wider reclassification of cannabis to a less dangerous drug schedule, Alliance Global Partners analyst Aaron Grey says in a research note. Six of the leading 8 operators reported growth, making it the first time in two years that there has been growth on average for the industry, the analyst says. It's also a meaningful turnaround compared with 2025, Grey says. Growth should continue as store saturation becomes less of a factor for retail trends and wholesale trends remain stable, the analyst says. Meanwhile, the federal government's rescheduling of cannabis could come later this fall, Grey says. The growth and reform would combine to make cannabis companies look more appealing to investors, the analyst says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1402 ET - Ross Stores has taken a conservative stance when it comes to pricing, even as rivals like TJX have notched outsized same-store sales growth recently due to price increases, William Blair analysts say in a note. But for Ross, the strategy seems to be paying off as it gains market share, the analysts say. "In the current environment, we think a better value proposition clearly is winning Ross incremental share," the analysts say. "It is nearly impossible to think some of that is not at the expense of TJX."(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1355 ET - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by three this week to 452, and was up by 41 from a year ago, Baker Hughes reports. The EIA sees crude production rising to 14.2 million barrels a day in 2027 from 13.8 million b/d this year. With proved reserves below 10 years of production, U.S. production could be approaching a peak, Amapreet Singh of Barclays says in a note. "The decline in proved reserves to production ratio below the 10-year level has historically been a strong leading indicator for an inflection point in well-head production," he says, citing previous cases in Mexico, Nigeria, Angola and others. "Barring a step change in development technology, we believe U.S. crude oil production could peak in the coming years." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1249 ET - The Trump administration's efforts to cap bond yields is fueling the rally in gold and bitcoin, which capitalized on the situation, BankPro's CEO Paolo Broccardo says in a note. "The use of non-market methods by the authorities is fueling demand for alternative assets outside the traditional financial system." The Treasury Department's announcement that it will raise the amount of longer-term bond purchases, meanwhile, overshadowed the publication of the FOMC minutes, he adds. "Investors ignored the fact that the number of 'hawks' on the committee is growing, which could lead to higher interest rates." New York gold futures are up 2.1% at $4,667.60 an ounce. Bitcoin gains 6.5% and trades around $77,391. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1128 ET - Cocoa prices are moving higher on supply fears and the risk of El Nino, but erratic market movements are proving hard to explain, Rabobank's Oran van Dort says. Cocoa contracts have surged 18% in New York since a July 30 low. Ghana's cocoa board warned production would decline by 16% in the 2026-27 season, helping drive prices higher, Van Dort says, adding that cocoa trade this week has been volatile. "The daily moves we are seeing are feeling harder to justify at times. It feels like large moves are no longer reserved for big data releases." Cocoa trades down 0.7% Friday at $6,020 a ton.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1119 ET - Europe's blue-chip stock index is on track to break a seven-day losing streak, its longest run without a positive day run since September 2023. The string of losing days comes as higher oil prices and borrowing costs weighed on investor sentiment. Despite the extended run, the index has only lost 0.9% over the period amid small August trading volumes. Miners and consumer-facing stocks have buoyed the index Friday, with gold and silver miner Hochschild Mining--up 6.4%--and JD Sports Fashion--up 6%--among top performers. The Stoxx 600 rises 0.6%, and is up 10% for the year. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1048 ET - Copper prices hold above $14,000 a metric ton after edging lower in recent days. The decline was partly driven by a sharp increase in copper stocks held in LME warehouses: total copper inventories climbed by 34,000 tons from last Friday to nearly 240,000 tons, according to Commerzbank. The rise in stocks provides some short-term relief for the well-supplied global market. However, China's copper production showed signs of weakening. Output fell 3.7% in July from the previous month and was only 1.3% higher than a year earlier. "A significant slowdown in China's copper production could lead to a shortage in the global copper market, which has so far remained well-supplied," analysts at the bank say. LME copper futures are up 0.9% to $14,172.50 a ton. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

1036 ET - Bitcoin has gained nearly 25% this week, but may have finally encountered a price point that's too high in the short-term at $80,000. Bitcoin spiked at $79,258 overnight, and has since retreated to around $77,000. It's a new near-term resistance level, serving as both a psychological and technical resistance point, says Lacie Zhang of Bitget Wallet. "A clean daily or weekly close above $80,000 would likely shift attention to the $82,000 to $84,000 supply area next," says Zhang. If bitcoin retreats back toward $70,000, that "would suggest this was more of a fast positioning squeeze than the start of a durable new leg." Bitcoin is up 5.5% to $76,685, according to LSEG data. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1017 ET - U.S. Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded products saw net sales of $608 million and $184 million, respectively, on Thursday, J.P. Morgan analysts estimate, as crypto investors jump on positive signals from U.S. regulators and a weaker dollar. These flows were an acceleration from already-strong flows on Wednesday, they write. Flows were concentrated in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF, which saw inflows of $504 million, they say. Funds managed by Fidelity and Bitwise also saw significant inflows. Trading volumes totaled $5.405 billion Thursday, well ahead of the running daily average of $3.22 billion, they say. Bitcoin rises 5.4% to $76,965.03, while Ether--the token of blockchain network Ethereum--adds 2.3% to trade at $2,379.82. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0942 ET - Bitcoin ETFs have had a net inflow exceeding over $1 billion in the past two days, according to data from CoinGlass. With a net inflow of $606.3 million on Thursday, it's now $1.61 billion in net inflows reported over the past four days. This week has seen a resurgent appetite in cryptocurrencies, thanks to more attention coming from the Trump Administration and actions from the Treasury Department resurrecting the "dollar debasement" trade. It's a change from the trading that has dominated the crypto space all summer. "The current Bitcoin bear market is getting a little long in the tooth," says Zach Pandl of Grayscale Research in a note. Bitcoin spiked over $79,000 overnight, and was recently up 5.8% to $76,865. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0939 ET - Bitcoin's rally is being fueled by rapid inflows and increased speculation, XS.com's Simon-Peter Massabni says. Spot bitcoin funds are on track for their strongest week of inflows since last October, adding over $1.6 billion, the analyst writes, quoting cryptocurrency tracker SoSo Value data. At the same time, open positions in bitcoin futures reached $54 billion, up by $10 billion from lows in late June according to CoinGlass, Massabni says. The inflows coincided with short-position liquidations, totaling over $1.6 billion between Thursday and Friday, the analyst says. Bitcoin rises 5.1% to $76,692.83. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0936 ET - Roots has agreed to go private in a buyout deal that TD Cowen analyst Brian Morrison calls the best offer the apparel retailer is likely to receive. Roots, a household brand in Canada, has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Marquee Brands and JM&A Design & Development for C$4.10 a share. This represents a 36% premium to its price right before Roots announced a strategic review in March. Morrison says that given that the company has undertaken "what we view as a full auction process," and the current proposal has the backing of its board, among other support, "we see a high probability of the transaction closing as proposed" in 4Q. The analyst downgrades the stock rating to sell from hold as a result.