Global Equities Roundup: Market Talk

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

1635 ET - Levi Strauss is using its tariff refund to spur long-term growth. The jeans company put some of the refunds toward its immediate earnings, but also allotted some to reinvest into the business. Levi spent some of the refunds on promotion and marketing expenditures, which resulted in an additional $25 million expense in the third quarter. Of the 16 cents a share in refunds during the quarter, Levi spent 5 cents a share on reinvestments. It plans to redeploy $60 million in refunds this year back into the business. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1602 ET - Lululemon Athletica has tapped Athleta's chief executive to lead its product strategy during a difficult time for both athleticwear brands. Maggie Gauger has spent just over a year at Gap's athletic brand Athleta, after more than two decades at Nike. Athleta has not had a strong year and same-store sales fell 12% in the latest quarter, despite growth in Gap's other brands. It is facing many similar problems to Lululemon, such as reliance on promotions and weak customer engagement, which executives said in August would take a long time to fix. Lululemon, meanwhile, has consistently failed to get its new product launches to resonate with shoppers. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1601 ET - Lululemon Athletica's shake-up of its product leadership team comes after a long string of challenges for the athletic brand. The company is creating two new c-suite executives, including a head of product, while its head of brand activation and chief supply chain officer are departing. The company's stock has shed nearly 60% this year, as product launches have continually failed to resonate with shoppers. In the latest quarter, sales of Lululemon's core clothing categories in the Americas were slower than expected, while its Chinese business took an unexpected downturn. Analysts said the results created long-term concerns and a lack of visibility that could deter even the most loyal investors. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1330 ET - Ariel Investments doesn't necessarily want Mattel to sell itself. The asset-management firm, which has a 5.4% stake in the toymaker, says Barbie-doll maker should retain an independent financial advisory firm to explore various strategic alternatives, including a divestiture of significant assets, a merger or an outright sale. "We think (the board) will do the right thing for shareholders," Ariel Co-CEO John Rogers says in an interview with CNBC. "The leaders there have shown a history of doing the right thing." (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1323 ET - Ariel Investments Co-CEO John Rogers says Ynon Kreiz's departure from Mattel played "a big part" in the asset-management firm's decision to call for the toymaker to explore strategic alternatives. "Ynon had done a great job restructuring the business," Rogers says in an interview with CNBC. "He had a plan in place." That won't necessarily be the case under Roger Lynch, who was tapped to succeed Kreiz as Mattel's next CEO last week. "We don't want to start over again," Rogers says. He adds that Ariel is becoming impatient, as Mattel's shares remain significantly undervalued with its current structure as a public company. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1314 ET - Qatar leads major Gulf stocks lower Wednesday, with the QE Index falling 0.5%. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index declines 0.5%, Abu Dhabi's benchmark index loses 0.3% and the Dubai Financial Market General Index falls 0.2%. The declines come amid a weaker regional economic outlook, with the World Bank forecasting GCC economies to contract by an average 4.3% this year. Unlike previous energy shocks that benefited Gulf oil exporters, disruption to the Strait of Hormuz has reduced export volumes and government revenue, while heightened uncertainty is weighing on financial markets and business sentiment, the World Bank says. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

1313 ET - Mortgages with principal balances of $100,000 or less are becoming increasingly scarce, Realtor.com says. That's limiting financing options for buyers of lower-priced homes. Small mortgages represented more than 12% of all home loans originated in 2013 and 2014, but less than 3% in 2025 and 2026. The decline reflects both a shrinking pool of low-priced homes and persistent barriers to originating smaller loans. Small mortgages are most prevalent in lower-cost and rural areas. In 2025, Iowa had the highest share of small mortgages at 9.6%, followed by Wyoming at 8.6% and Mississippi at 8.5%. The borrowers using small mortgages don't appear to present weaker credit profiles. The median purchase price for homes financed with small mortgages was $109,681 in 2026. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1146 ET - Morgan Stanley analysts are giving Roblox's AI game-creation tool their stamp of approval. The analyst gained access to the tool last month, and since then have had the opportunity to use natural-language prompts to create, modify and publish playable games directly in the Roblox app. "While the product remains in beta, >100k people have already used Build to make games across three test markets, and we can see why," they say in a research note. The analysts expect the new tool to lower the barrier to make games, thereby expanding both the number of creators and the supply of playable games. Now, Roblox just has to work on getting the right games in front of the right players, they say, and the company can emerge as a leader in the AI-driven future of game development. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1139 ET - Recent buyers of Bitcoin used the cryptocurrency's latest price run-up to sell and lock in quick profits, according to an analysis by Glassnode. On Sunday, 86% of bitcoin that moved onto exchanges, a move that typically comes when a crypto asset will be sold, came from short-term holders, the analysts say. That's the highest level in more than a year, they say. If this kind of quick-profit selling continues, it will create a wall of supply at the $85,000 level that will be hard to push past, the analysts say. If Bitcoin slips into the $81,700 to $83,300 range, traders that made leveraged bets on the price to go up will have to sell to cover their losses, pushing the price even lower, the analysts say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1135 ET - Italy's premier stock index wipes out its summer gains, falling to lows last seen in June as tumbling banking and AI-linked stocks weigh. Stocks linked to the AI buildout fall sharply, with semiconductor-testing company Technoprobe down 6.3%, while electrification group Prysmian falls 4.7%. Banks also drop sharply as higher oil prices and fiscal concerns weigh on the broader European sector. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena falls 4.1%, while UniCredit loses 4.4%. Banca Mediolanum falls 3.8%. The FTSE MIB drops 2.7%, on track to close at its lowest level since June 5. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1102 ET - France's CAC 40 index of blue-chip stocks falls to its lowest level since March as inflation fears, higher oil prices and a tech selloff combine to weigh on the index. Banks lead a sharp fall in the index, as heightened concerns about France's budget deficit put upward pressure on French borrowing costs. Societe Generale drops 5.7%, while BNP Paribas loses 4.3%. The index also suffers from a selloff in AI-related stocks. Electrical infrastructure groups Legrand and Schneider Electric drop 4.6% and 2.9%, respectively, while chip maker STMicroelectronics falls 3.3%. The CAC 40 falls 1.4% to 7,755.07 points, on track for its lowest close since March 27, according to LSEG. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1102 ET - Strength seen in altcoins -- cryptocurrencies outside of bitcoin or stablecoins -- has quickly faded in the early days of October, with most major cryptocurrencies posting big losses in morning trade. Altcoins are now amplifying losses seen in bitcoin, says analysts with Glassnode in a note. The firm attributes this to the leverage built up around many mid-cap and small-cap tokens, with these coins carrying open interest that is high in comparison to their total market capitalization -- a sign of a potential unwind ahead, says Glassnode. Bitcoin falls 3% to $83,071, while ethereum is down 5.1% to $2,562, XRP drops 4.8% to $1.43, and solana is down 4.3% to $115.84. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2026 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)