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

1113 ET - Sales of existing U.S. homes fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.2M in April, the lowest level since October 2024, according to Redfin. That's down 0.2% from a month earlier, and down 1.1% from a year earlier--the first annual decline in seven months. Pending sales--which that includes both existing and newly constructed homes--fell 3.5%. That's the steepest monthly decline since August 2023. Pending sales dropped 2.7% year-over-year. Redfin says housing demand is sluggish because the cost of buying a home is climbing, and economic uncertainty is making many Americans press pause on big purchases. The median home sale price rose 1.4% year-over-year to $438,466 in April. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.73% last month. Spring is typically the busiest season for the housing market. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

0940 ET - Issuance of new euro-denominated additional tier 1 $(AT1.AU)$ bonds is expected to decline in 2025 from 2024 levels due to lower refinancing needs, ING senior sector strategist Suvi Kosonen says in a note. AT1 bonds are a risky type of bank debt issued to meet capital requirements. Euro AT1 bond supply is expected to reach 15 billion euro ($16.8 billion) in 2025, down from 20 billion euro in 2024, Kosonen says. "Our lower estimate follows the AT1 redemptions heading lower in 2026 as several banks have been refinancing their calls relatively early." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0752 ET - The run of Legal & General's shares has been disappointing given its big buybacks, HSBC says in a research note. The U.K. financial services group intends to return around 30% of its market cap to shareholders over the next two years but its ordinary dividend per share is constrained, analysts say. Its current 500 million pound buyback and its extra 1 billion pound buyback from the sale of its U.S. protection business mean the stock offers an attractive yield for the next two years, they say. However, neither underlying core operating profit nor net surplus generation cover its ordinary dividend cost in the short term, they note. "We see limited upside left for L&G and better opportunities elsewhere," they add. HSBC cuts its rating on the stock to hold from buy. Shares have risen 4.3% year to date. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

0700 ET - The best approach for European bank investors remains to have diversified portfolio exposure, UBS says in a research note. "While most new clients we meet on the banks would prefer a single top pick to own in Europe, we think a diversified portfolio is required," analysts write. For market-related gearing they advise Barclays, or Deutsche Bank at a slightly higher valuation, while ING and NatWest provide longer-duration exposure and Intesa Sanpaolo, Bawag and the Greek banks provide short-duration leverage. They like the diversification and improved capital position of Santander. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

2350 ET - The lowering of earnings expectations for Australia's ANZ, NAB and Westpac banks leaves Citi analyst Thomas Strong waiting for the country's largest lender--Commonwealth Bank of Australia--to succumb to what he says is an inevitable downgrade. Strong wonders when this will come and sees risk that the stock will begin to underperform once it has declined from its current record levels. Writing in a note to clients, Strong says the quartet--Australia's four largest banks by market capitalization--posted relatively lackluster earnings this month. He points to pressure on funding costs, deteriorating asset quality and the apparent end of capital management. He has a neutral rating on ANZ, and a sell rating on the others.(stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2025 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)

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