The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1136 ET - The war in the Middle East is likely to result in wider credit spreads for European bank bonds, ING's Maureen Schuller says in a note. Uncertainties surrounding the war and its impact on global economies is expected to raise the risk premium on bank bonds, Schuller says. "The subordinated side of the bank bond spectrum remains most vulnerable to further adjustment, in our view." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
1047 ET - Goeasy's amended financing terms offer only limited relief, according to Graham Ryding of TD Cowen. The analyst says covenant waivers and revised terms on the revolver and securitization facility help the company manage its unusually large 4Q/25 charge-offs, but "funding for LendCare [secured loans] going forward looks compromised given these originations will be excluded now from the revolving credit and securitization facilities." Meanwhile the auto-loan securitization facility has been suspended, forcing receivables back onto Goeasy's balance sheet. Liquidity is at C$983 million, though most isn't accessible until mid-year, while a US$65 million note matures in May. Overall, Ryding says the agreements "provide some short term funding relief, but the outlook for funding LendCare looks compromised." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1021 ET - U.S. home prices were little changed from a month earlier in February, Redfin says, rising 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. That's the slowest growth in seven months. Prices increased 1.9% year-over-year. Price growth is muted because it's the strongest buyer's market in recent history--for those who can afford to buy. There are a record 46% more home sellers than buyers, meaning the buyers who are in the market have negotiating power when it comes to price. Prices are still rising slightly, but this growth pales in comparison to recent years. Mortgage rates have ticked up in the past few weeks following months of declines, but Redfin still expects housing affordability to improve this year as income growth outpaces home price growth. (chris.wack@wsj.com)
1015 ET - Ares Management limited withdrawals from its $22.5 billion Ares Strategic Income Fund after receiving redemption requests totaling 11.6% of the shares outstanding at the end of January, joining the expanding ranks of debt-fund managers that have barred investors from pulling out as much cash as they'd like. Investors will have another opportunity to request withdrawals in the coming quarter, the business development company says in a securities filing Tuesday. Ares, which formed the BDC about four years ago, said the 5% redemption would take $524.5 million from the BDC's coffers, noting that it has about $5 billion in undrawn liquidity. Ares said most of the withdrawal requests came from a small number of family offices and institutional investors. In a separate filing, the BDC said about 22% of its assets are tied to software and services companies. (ted.bunker@wsj.com)
0949 ET - More than 42,000 U.S. home-sale agreements fell through in February, Redfin says. That's equal to 13.7% of homes that went under contract that month, and up from 12.8% a year earlier. Nearly one in every seven homebuying deals are falling through largely because buyers are in the driver's seat. There are hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers in the country. A buyer may back out of a contract during the inspection period if they see a home they like better or an issue comes up that they don't want to repair. House hunters are also feeling jittery because of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Redfin says. (chris.wack@wsj.com)
0916 ET - Artificial-intelligence isn't a significant risk to Spanish banks, Citi analysts write. Around 65% of the Spanish population use physical bank branches, something that AI can't replicate, the analysts say. Moreover, large Spanish banks have piled significant investment into their digital capabilities, with BBVA acquiring around 66% of its customers digitally, they say. Spain's older population--and the concentration of wealth among this demographic--also helps incumbent banks as older people are less likely to use AI tools, the analysts say. AI will also allow efficiency savings for banks, they add. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0750 ET - Nordea shares have had a decent run in the last year, but valuation now looks stretched versus fundamentals, Bank of America Securities analysts write. The net interest income picture is murkier, with management guiding for flat-to-down full-year 2026 net interest income on tighter margins. "We now think Nordea's business is more negatively geared to rates and more reliant on loan growth than previously expected." BofA sees high AI spending risks amid high competition and digitization in the Nordics, while the dividend yield remains below peers' with little scope to raise it. The bank downgrades Nordea to underperform from neutral and lowers its price target on the stock to 171 Swedish kronor from 182 kronor. Shares fall 1.9% to 164 kronor. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0319 ET - The recovery for Indian banks' net interest margins expected from 4Q FY 2026 may be delayed by a few quarters, Nomura analysts say. One reason is that banks' current account savings account ratios are moderating, versus Nomura's previous assumption of stability. This is because depositors are migrating savings into higher-yielding term deposits as rate differentials widen, and digital banking has shown increased effectiveness. Secondly, wholesale funding costs have been rising due to structural deposit tightness. Domestic banks with higher residual liquidity buffers and stronger liability franchises appear best placed in this environment. Kotak Mahindra Bank stands out most clearly, says Nomura, which upgrades the stock's rating to buy from neutral while lowering the target price to 445.00 rupees from 460.00 rupees. Shares are 3.3% higher at 368.20 rupees. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
2218 ET - Malaysia banks are expected to maintain a positive earnings growth trajectory despite Middle East tensions, with only limited indirect impact from potential rate cuts and higher credit costs, CGS International analyst Winson Ng says in a note. Elevated oil prices could trigger Bank Negara to cut policy rates, while BNM may monitor conditions closely before responding to oil shocks, he notes. A 25bps rate cut could reduce sector net profit by about 1.6%, while rising oil prices may lead to higher gross impaired loans, he reckons. However, strong pre-emptive provisions are likely sufficient to cushion potential increases in impaired loans, he adds. CGS maintains an overweight rating on Malaysian banks, saying earnings would be largely defensive against any negative impact from elevated oil prices. It pegs AMMB, Malayan Banking and RHB Bank as top picks. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
2201 ET - Moody's Ratings cuts its rating on FS KKR Capital, a private credit fund run by Future Standard and KKR, to junk, noting its continued asset quality challenges. These have resulted in weaker profitability and greater net asset value erosion over time relative to business-development company peers. The fund's nonaccrual loans rose to 5.5% of total investments at amortized costs as of end-December, one of the highest among rated business-development companies, says Moody's. Other large investments have also been also marked down significantly, the ratings company says. Moody's therefore trims its senior unsecured rating on the fund to Ba1 from Baa3. Still, the fund has sufficient liquidity and well-laddered debt maturities, which leads Moody's to change its outlook on FS KKR Capital to stable from negative. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
2003 ET - Apollo Global Management on Monday joined a growing list of business development company overseers that have recently capped investor withdrawals, limiting redemptions to 5% of Apollo Debt Solutions BDC's shares outstanding after receiving requests equivalent to over 11%. The New York firm cited its commitment to manage its net assets of $15.1 billion in the best interests of all investors and the BDC's "designated liquidity objectives," in a securities filing. It intends to honor each withdrawal request on a pro-rated basis, which will mean each investor would get nearly half of what was sought this quarter. Apollo set the 5% limit to reflect the average life of the BDC's underlying assets and the anticipated time span of investor commitments. At the end of last month, the BDC held assets of about $25 billion based on fair market value, according to a separate filing. (ted.bunker@wsj.com)
1937 ET [Dow Jones]--Commonwealth Bank looks like the Australian bank with the most to gain from AI adoption, according to Macquarie analysts. They think that the lender will initially leverage improved productivity to drive revenue and accelerate change. Taking a narrower view, they reckon that Westpac is the best-placed lender in terms of near-term cost cuts. They tell clients in a note that this is because of its greater reliance on outsourced workforce providers. Overall, they anticipate material AI cost savings across Australia's banking sector, with global peers flagging workforce reductions of about 10% over the next five years. They caution that this could coincide with increased bad debt charges as AI drives job losses. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments