The latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

0744 GMT - South Korea is seeking to usher in a new "golden age" of national growth by building regional high-tech industrial ecosystems, according to President Lee Jae Myung. Speaking at a meeting reviewing the government's mega projects on Monday, Lee called the next 12 months a critical time, urging officials to accelerate implementation and ensure the benefits of growth extend beyond the capital region. He said the planned Honam semiconductor cluster should be developed at a pace matching or surpassing Japan's Kumamoto tech hub. To speed development, Lee instructed the Defense Ministry to temporarily transfer operations from Gwangju Military Airport to another military airfield by mid-2028, clearing the way for early construction of the chip complex. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

0646 GMT - Apple may keep price hikes minimal for its coming iPhone 18 Pro despite a sharp jump in production costs, according to research firm TrendForce. The cost of components used in the iPhone 18 Pro 256GB model is expected to surge about 38% on year, largely due to soaring memory prices. Memory chips accounted for just 10% of the phone's component costs a year ago, but that share is projected to exceed 40% by early 2027, TrendForce says. To avoid hurting demand, Apple may accept lower profit margins on the new model and could even raise prices on older iPhone models to help offset the higher costs, TrendForce says. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

0613 GMT - NetLink NBN Trust's distribution sustainability is likely to be the key driver for its unit price, its bull at Citi Research says in a note. The trust, which owns and operates the passive fiber network infrastructure for Singapore's broadband network, posted 1Q revenue and Ebitda that was in line with consensus estimates, but profit fell short, analyst Luis Hilado says. He expects the business trust's management to address whether its distribution per unit can be maintained in the medium-to-long term at its Tuesday results briefing, flagging the trust's sequentially higher net debt-to-Ebitda ratio. Citi retains its buy rating and target price of 1.13 Singapore dollars. Units last closed flat at S$1.01, before the results. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0452 GMT - Chinese AI chip maker Cambricon Technology's weaker-than-expected 2Q revenue growth is likely just a quarterly fluctuation, Bernstein analysts say in a research note. The analysts note that China's advanced logic capacity could ramp quickly, providing increased support for domestic AI chip production. Against this backdrop, demand from hyperscalers, telecom operators, internet platforms and state-owned enterprises should remain strong, they say. "Cambricon should be well-positioned to convert strong demand into faster revenue growth over the coming years," they say. Still, they reckon that Cambricon's shares could be weighed by the weak sentiment recently. Shares are last 6.6% lower at 1,120.31 yuan. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0429 GMT - Asia will be able to weather a potential slowdown in AI investment, BNP Paribas APAC market strategist Chi Lo says. A selloff in major AI-related stocks since late June has raised investor concerns in Asia, given that strong capital spending has been a key driver of the region's growth outlook. However, Lo sees the renewable-energy transition, energy-security investment and defense spending supporting industrial and capital spending beyond AI and semiconductors. Strong capex is also reflected in robust capital-goods imports and industrial growth indicators at multi-year highs. The region's corporate balance sheets remain healthy, with nearly 40% of Asia ex-Japan companies being net cash positive. BNP Paribas says the market expects regional capital expenditure to grow at a compound annual rate of 16% from 2027 to 2031. (jason.chau@wsj.com)

0359 GMT - SGH's FY26 earnings, due Tuesday, will "be useful to calibrate expected weakness unfolding in housing and construction sectors," Morgan Stanley says. Australia's SGH has businesses in construction materials, mining services and equipment hire. Its results should help investors get a better sense of how markets that are less influenced by interest rates--such as defense, Olympics and state-based legacy infrastructure pipelines--are faring, says MS. "Investors will be focused on where management is seeing demand soften versus remaining resilient, and whether current earnings growth can be sustained as capex trends increasingly diverge across sectors," the bank says. Shares in SGH are down 1.1% at A$45.38. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

0336 GMT - Taiwan's export growth is likely to remain elevated in the near term, BofA Securities says in a research note. This is supported by "continued investment in AI infrastructure by cloud providers, accelerated AI infrastructure build-out across major economies, and ongoing semiconductor capacity expansion and process upgrades in Taiwan," the bank says. The export strength will likely provide support for BofA's forecast of 12% GDP growth in 2026, it notes. Net exports and domestic tech capital expenditure are expected to remain key drivers of the island's economy, BofA says. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0247 GMT - China's exports momentum is likely to sustain in the near term, according to BofA Securities in a research note. July exports data comes broadly in line with market expectations and shows that tech-related exports remain the main driver of external trade performance, the bank says. "We expect the global semiconductor upcycle to remain intact, continuing to support demand for high-tech products and intermediate goods," it says. The Middle East conflict remains a key risk to monitor, it adds. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0005 GMT - Naver's earnings could remain under pressure from artificial-intelligence spending until 2Q 2027, when its AI data center starts generating revenue, NH Investment & Securities' Ahn Jae-min says. The South Korean internet company has eased concerns about potential cash-flow constraints by securing $9 billion in financing from U.S. private-equity firm Brookfield to build a 200-megawatt data center by 2028 under its "AI factory" project, the analyst notes. NH expects the AI project to generate revenue of 560 billion won in 2027 and 6.4 trillion won by 2030, while its operating profit is projected to rise from 31.7 billion won to 720.5 billion won over the same period.