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

1732 ET - LGI's A$22 million purchase of two solar farms in eastern Australia's Queensland state should drive Ebitda growth this fiscal year, says Ord Minnett. The Brigalow and Chinchilla solar farms have a combined export capacity of 42 megawatts. Analyst Tim Elder expects the acquisition can be comfortably funded through cash and existing debt. "At current market prices, we forecast the assets will contribute Ebitda of A$1.6 million in FY27 and A$2.2 million in FY28," Ord Minnett says. This could rise to A$3.4 million in FY29 and FY30 as LGI captures forecast portfolio and revenue savings. "The acquisition strengthens LGI's medium-term growth outlook and broadens its electricity generation platform," says Ord Minnett, which rates LGI a buy. Its price target lifts 3.5% to A$4.45/share. LGI ended Tuesday at A$2.20. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1421 ET - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are hitting new highs in an upswing for markets that could get another boost from Washington soon, WEBs Investments' Ben Fulton says in a note. With Republicans expected to lose the House, and potentially the Senate as well, political gridlock may take hold in the month ahead, if it hasn't already, Fulton says. A stalemated Congress might generate fewer headlines, shifting investor focus away from politics and toward the economy and corporate performance, he says. "For now, the combination offers a compelling backdrop for continued market strength," Fulton says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1412 ET - Kalshi says that it has launched a new perpetual futures contract for the U.S. 500 - an index of the 500 largest U.S. companies weighed by market capitalization. The prediction market platform says that this contract is its first move into equities, building off of the progress it made listing crypto perpetual futures earlier this year. "With prediction markets, you get exposure to the events that affect the stock market," says Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour in a press release. "The next step is exposure to the stock market itself, and the U.S. 500 perp is the best way for our traders to get it." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1239 ET - CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says recent concerns over AI agents are solvable -- it just comes down to how companies approach cybersecurity. "The model providers are focused on trying to build guardrails around how the model actually thinks," Kurtz says during an appearance on CNBC. "But when you put it in production, you need to see what it actually does. You need to understand its actions." That's one of Crowdstrike's focuses when it comes to AI agents, he says. Through its offerings with Nvidia, Crowdstrike works to both enforce safety protocols and trace what AI agents are doing, he says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1226 ET - Southwest Airlines is launching a plugin in ChatGPT to allow users to discover and shop for flights from the carrier in OpenAI's chatbot. The plugin is designed to make Southwest flights pop up earlier when customers are booking travel through ChatGPT. The move comes as online travel agencies are trying to integrate more AI to adapt to consumers' increasing use of chatbots when booking trips. Southwest has been working with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services to keep up with AI demands from customers. "Customers are evolving how they plan their travel, and Southwest is helping to shape what comes next," says Sabrina Callahan, Southwest's chief digital and marketing officer. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1204 ET - CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says companies don't necessarily need to pull back on their AI ramp ups as safety concerns mount. They just need to implement the right cybersecurity measures, he says. "In racing, you don't slow things down," Kurtz says during an appearance on CNBC. "You want to have the greatest amount of safety so you can go faster." Kurtz says cybersecurity is therefore critical for the U.S. to maintain an edge against China in the AI race. AI "is the greatest sea change that I've seen in my lifetime, and certainly in my technology career," Kurtz says. "You've just got to be able to harness it." (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1121 ET - President Trump's executive order temporarily allowing the use of red-dyed tax-free diesel by truckers who would normally use a taxed product is seen as having a limited benefit for U.S. farmers struggling with rising input costs. Red-dyed diesel is already being used by farmers to power farm machinery like tractors and combines, so the savings really goes to farmers transporting their harvests via trucks. But there's a way for this to backfire on farmers, says Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull in a note. "Opening those inventories to additional highway customers could also increase competition for supplies at rural distributors during harvest," he says. Corn rises 0.9%, soybeans are up 0.9%, and wheat climbs 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1106 ET - Large trucking operators probably won't take advantage of the federal tax deferral for on-road use of dyed diesel given the complications, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan says on X. "Interstate trucking means a patchwork of state rules and tax headaches, and most major truck stops don't sell dyed diesel," he says. For most diesel users the deferral of the 24.4 cents a gallon excise tax won't change much at the pump, he adds. "Big fleets will likely sit this out." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1059 ET - Lamb Weston is delivering on its promise of significant operational and cultural change, Executive Chair Jan Craps says on a call with analysts. The french-fry maker has changed half of its executive leadership team, as well as reduced the size of its board to 11 members, from 13, Craps says. "We implemented target setting and compensation changes that drive individual and regional accountability, and we just announced an organizational redesign to drive significant improvements in speed of decision-making, simplicity and accountability," Craps says. Lamb Weston is also working to drive additional cost savings, as the company continues to experience unexpected inflationary pressures across key input costs and freight expenses. The company is seeing early signs of progress, Craps says, pointing to higher-than-expected adjusted earnings and sales in F1Q. Lamb Weston surges 11%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1047 ET - U.S. diesel futures are lower after President Trump signed an order allowing temporary on-road use of dyed-red diesel with the corresponding federal excise tax deferred through the end of the year, and the deferred payment possibly later eliminated. "Red diesel" is untaxed for off-road use such as in farming and construction. The latest measure that seeks to reduce prices for truckers "appears to be adding to today's shift in diesel futures leadership back to the downside and away from the upside," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. But the measure "appears to be another band aid" as the diesel problem is driven mainly by disrupted supply through the Strait of Hormuz, the firm adds. Nymex diesel is off 2.6% at $4.4295 a gallon. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1044 ET -- Qatar leads most major Gulf stocks lower Tuesday, with the QE Index falling 0.3%. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index declines 0.2% and the Dubai Financial Market General Index is slightly changed, while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index bucks the trend, rising 1.1%. The moves come amid an uneven Gulf economic recovery. Saudi Arabia's PMI jumped to 55.3 in September from 53.8 in August, while Qatar's fell to 46.7 from 47.0, Capital Economics says. Saudi consumer confidence has returned to levels last seen around mid-2025 and point-of-sale data show spending rebounded through 3Q, while fiscal austerity has likely weighed on Qatar's non-oil economy, the consultancy says. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

0954 ET - British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group and Ryanair are the best protected in the sector, Bernstein's Alex Irving and Antoine Madre write. "Both should benefit whether fuel prices fall or remain elevated, as weaker competitors would come under greater pressure to reduce capacity," they say. They add that winter is likely to be particularly challenging for European airlines given high fuel costs. Bernstein has outperform ratings on both airlines' stock. It has a 30 euro target price on Ryanair and a 550 pence target on IAG. Ryanair shares are up 2.3% at 24.21 euros, while IAG shares are 1.4% higher at 440.20 pence.