Financial Services Roundup: Market Talk

The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

0518 GMT - Demand for U.S. Treasurys has changed meaningfully over the last decade, with foreign official investors accounting for a smaller share of Treasury holdings than they once did, Societe Generale rates strategists say in a note. This leaves the market increasingly dependent on private-sector demand, they say. "If investors no longer place the same premium on Treasurys, long-term yields may need to remain higher for a given policy path," according to the strategists. This would imply higher term premia, the Treasury curve steeper than historical relationships would suggest, and flight-to-quality flows less pronounced than they have been in the past, they say. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)

0502 GMT - RBC BlueBay Asset Management is more cautious over longer-dated bonds, fixed income CIO Mark Dowding says in a note. The ballooning growth in government and corporate debt in the U.S. and globally could lead markets to demand increased term premia, he says. "With yield curves relatively flat on both sides of the Atlantic, this means the firm [RBC BlueBay] is more biased towards a steepening trajectory looking forward," he says. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)

0450 GMT - The dollar is expected to remain range-bound between 157.00 and 158.80 yen this week, says Sony Financial Group analyst Kumiko Ishikawa. "While December rate hikes were largely priced in for both the U.S. and Japan, rate-hike expectations are showing signs of a slight retreat amid the recent selloff in AI-related tech stocks," she says. Any aggressive policy-driven positioning in the currency market is likely to be deferred until next week, when policy meetings for both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan are scheduled, she says. The dollar was last trading at 158.07 yen.(megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com)

0433 GMT - MSCI's latest consultation to potentially reclassify Indonesia to standalone status from emerging-market is a further blow to the country's standing among international investors, Capital Economics' Gareth Leather says in a note. MSCI described Indonesia's attempts to reform or improve market transparency and trading practices as insufficient. Leather adds that MSCI's proposed downgrade is much worse than previously anticipated, having previously threatened to lower the status to frontier-market, but it now argues that even this would understate the severity of the problems, he adds. "It also raises the prospect of substantial foreign capital outflows as index-tracking funds are forced to sell Indonesian equities," Leather says.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)

0431 GMT - Public Bank's goodwill impairment at its Hong Kong unit is unlikely to have any material direct impact on its 3.5 billion ringgit capital-return plan, says CIMB Securities analyst Ei Leen Tan in a note. The non-cash charge could have limited implications for capital strength and dividend capacity. Public Bank's 3Q core net profit is forecast at 1.85 billion ringgit, nearly the same as a year earlier, supported by wealth management and FX income and partly offset by narrower net interest margins, she says. Tan cuts her 2026-2028 net profit estimates by 2.1%-13% to factor in the one-off goodwill impairment and a weaker NIM outlook. CIMB lowers the target price to 5.35 ringgit from 5.50 ringgit but keeps a buy rating on the stock. Shares are 2.7% lower at 4.70 ringgit. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2026 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)