The latest Market Talks covering the Auto and Transport sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

0405 GMT - Hyundai Motor could see its earnings dragged in 2Q, due to the impact of higher U.S. tariffs since early April, Hanwha Investment & Securities analysts S.R. Kim and Yein Kim write in a note. They expect the South Korean carmaker's operating profit to fall 9.3% on year to KRW3.9 trillion for the April-June quarter. Increased labor costs and R&D investment as well as the dollar's weakness could also weigh on the company's 2Q earnings. Also, higher U.S. tariffs could raise the company's business costs by KRW2.6 trillion for this year. They expect its EPS to fall to KRW49,198 in 2025 from an estimated KRW57,380 last year. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0252 GMT - Li Auto continues to face challenges in 2H, given intense competition in the auto market, Nomura analysts write in a note. The company cut its 2Q delivery guidance to 108,000 units from between 123,000 to 128,000 units projected earlier. Nomura maintains its relatively cautious view on Li Auto with the auto sector seeing a relatively muted demand in the past three weeks, especially in the premium market. In addition to a typically weak season mid-year, the muted demand is also likely due to BYD's latest price cut, and potentially the launch of Xiaomi Yu7 model, they say. Nomura keeps a neutral rating and target price of $31.00 on Li Auto's ADRs, which last closed at $27.11. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0235 GMT - The response to Xiaomi's YU7 SUV since its launch has been much better than UOB Kay Hian's expectations. Demand for the EV will likely be a solid indicator of positive share price performance in the coming days, UOB analysts say in a research note. The analysts expect Xiaomi to deliver 150,000 units of YU7 in 2025, adding that production capacity could limit deliveries. They reckon that competition between Xiaomi's two EV models should be minimal as their target audiences are different--the YU7 is positioned as a high-performance luxury SUV for family use, while the SU7 provides a driver-focused experience. UOB maintains a buy call on Xiaomi with its target price unchanged at HK$69.90. Shares last ended at HK$59.95. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

1639 GMT - Ships lost an estimated 576 containers overboard last year, more than double the 221 lost at sea in 2023 but below the 10-year average of 1,274, according to a report from the World Shipping Council. One reason for the increase was ships avoiding the Red Sea, where the threat of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels chilled commercial maritime traffic. Sending vessels around the Cape of Good Hope instead exposed them to more-hazardous seas, which contributed to about 200 containers getting lost overboard in this region in 2024. The trade association said the overall trend remains encouraging, with the number of lost boxes accounting for 0.0002% of the more than 250 million transported. (mark.long@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 01, 2025 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)

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