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

1350 ET - Economy watchers will have very little to latch onto next week, at least until Friday. The government shutdown means a continued dearth of official economic stats, until the end of the week, when September consumer-price data are set for release after a postponement. Meanwhile, the policy-communications blackout period before the Fed's Oct. 29 policy decision kicks off Saturday. So while Fed officials including Michelle Bowman, Michael Barr and Christopher Waller are making public remarks next week, none of their speaking engagements will touch on monetary policy, per official Fed rules. With earnings season in full swing, investors will have to hang on corporate reports to sate their hunger for updates. (matt.grossman@wsj.com; @mattgrossman)

1344 ET - EQT's project backlog provides a visible long-term growth trajectory heading into the company's 3Q earnings report, UBS analysts say in a note. The company unveiled six new midstream or power projects with service dates starting in 2027 on its last earnings call, representing low-risk growth drivers with potential to improve volumes, the analysts say. Much of those value creation opportunities are not reflected in current consensus estimates, the analysts say. They expect the company to ramp up shareholder returns next year while reducing debt, despite higher spend for the six projects. The analysts raise their price target on the stock to $67 from $65.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1335 ET - The number of wells drilling for oil in the U.S. is unchanged this week at 418, down 64 from a year ago, while gas rigs edged up by one to 121, oil services company Baker Hughes reports. U.S. oil production is at a record high above 13.6 million barrels a day, according to EIA data, despite the lower rig count. "The resiliency of the shale patch has been something for years," says John Kilduff of Again Capital. WTI has fallen this week below $60 a barrel, but the price would probably need to go to $50-$55 before there's much of a reaction in the industry, he says. "It's not low enough to change behaviors just yet in terms of dialing back output." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1321 ET - Sponsor-backed activity reached nearly $300 billion in September, the highest monthly total since 2021, according to law firm Ropes & Gray. The figure-driven by megadeals, such as the blockbuster EA take private-represents more than double the level in August and in September 2024, the firm said. Meanwhile, sponsor buyer deal count hit a three-year high in September, up 57% from the previous month and 40% from the year-ago period. (maria.armental@wsj.com; @mjarmental)

1254 ET - Rental affordability is better than it's been in four years, giving prospective renters a slight break on new leases. Subdued rent growth and record-breaking concessions from landlords are turning up now after a deluge of newly built apartments hit the market last year, according to Zillow. Builders responded to a surge of demand for housing during the pandemic, finishing more multifamily units in 2024 than any year in a half-century. A weaker labor market is also contributing to slower rent growth this year. New jobs are highly important for residential mobility. Zillow says falling apartment rents are concentrated in the Sun Belt and the Mountain West regions. In recent years, rental managers have turned to concessions, such as free months of rent or free parking, instead of lowering rents. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1236 ET - Just under three in 10--28.8%--U.S. homebuyers paid in all cash in August, down just a bit from 29% a year earlier, according to Redfin. The prevalence of all-cash payments peaked at nearly 35% in late 2023 and early 2024 because mortgage rates peaked in the high-7% range during that time. Buyers were inclined to pay in cash-- if they could afford it--to avoid high monthly interest payments. When mortgage rates came down from that peak, all-cash payments became less common. Another reason the share of buyers paying in cash has declined from its peak: this past summer was the strongest buyer's market in a decade, and a less competitive market means fewer buyers have to pay cash to beat out other bidders. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1214 ET - Interest in home improvement projects is picking up and Home Depot will likely see the largest share of the new spending, say UBS analysts, citing a survey of 2,000 adults. According to the survey, 53% of homeowners chose Home Depot among a list of retailers as the likeliest place they would buy materials from, followed by 42% for Lowe's. Among respondents who said they would buy products at Home Depot, 31% anticipated spending 50% or more of their project expenses at the retailer. Among the respondents who preferred Lowe's, 25% said they would spend at least half of their expenses there. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

1204 ET - Homeowners' ability to fund home improvement projects is improving, providing a boost to Home Depot and Lowe's, say UBS analysts, citing a survey of 2,000 adults. According to the survey, 59% of homeowners expect to perform a home improvement project in the next 12 months, consistent with last year. But 64% of homeowners now say they have the full amount of money to fund their projects, up 500 basis points from last year and the highest level since March 2021. Additionally home equity lines of credit have been rising year-over-year every quarter since early 2024, providing an additional source of funding for projects, the analysts say. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

1200 ET - Recent acute problems in corners of the credit market appear to be one-offs, and don't necessarily suggest deep problems in the consumer-lending world, Clayton Triick, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Angel Oak Capital Advisors, tells The WSJ. The collapse of auto-lender Tricolor, for instance, sprung very specifically from its business model of lending to people with unique credit challenges, including immigration status. "Tricolor was very idiosyncratic," Triick says. The situation does show how some parts of the lending landscape could come under stress as the economy, slows, he adds. (matt.grossman@wsj.com; @mattgrossman)

1158 ET - Amazon Web Services' share declines in the age of AI have been the source of investor concern, but the company's Project Rainier computing project with Anthropic should soon start to reverse those losses, Deutsche Bank analysts say. While revenue from the project will really start to ramp in the fourth-quarter, it could still drive a couple hundred million dollars in additional revenue in the third-quarter, allowing AWS to achieve 18% to 19% revenue growth. "AWS will return to gaining incremental dollars added into the cloud ecosystem, thus mitigating fears that AWS is a firm AI loser," the analysts say. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

1143 ET - Investor sentiment around Amazon is about as subdued as it has been in a while, but the key for Amazon's earnings is consumers, who are continuing to spend, Deutsche Bank analysts say. "What has become clear over the last several months is that the US consumer for now remains relatively healthy," the analysts say, adding that third-party data show Amazon's sales growth accelerated sequentially in the third quarter. That supports the likelihood of a beat and raise for the company's third-quarter earnings. Meanwhile Amazon has likely stocked up aggressively ahead of the holiday season, mitigating tariff concerns even amid new tariff threats from President Trump. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

1035 ET - American Express's stock advances 4.5% after its earnings report, which Truist analyst Brian Foran sees as a more muted investor response than expected. Skeptics are worried that the credit-card company is benefiting from its newly refreshed Platinum card now, but the higher fee on the card, which won't be implemented until later this year, will weigh on financials going forward, Foran says. In the first three weeks since the Platinum refresh, engagement among cardholders has exceeded expectations, executives said. But engagement could get squeezed once the higher fee goes into effect in January for existing members, Foran says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2025 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT)

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