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

0744 GMT - London Stock Exchange Group's proactive capital allocation should be well-received by the market, RBC Capital Markets analysts Ben Bathurst and Jude Neanor write in a note. The stock-exchange and financial-information company agreed to acquire a 20% stake in Post Trade Solutions and buy an increased proportion of the revenue surplus in the SwapClear business. Investors are also likely to see positively the share buyback after a period of weak performance, they say. The recent share sell-off is overdone and overlooks LSEG's growth opportunities, they add. Shares are up 5.3% at 91.82 pounds.( najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0746 GMT - Gold prices rise despite investor caution after this week's selloff. In early trade, futures in New York are up 1.6% at $4,131.20 a troy ounce. Earlier in the session, gold was down after the largest single-day outflow from gold-backed exchange-traded funds in five months, MUFG's Soojin Kim writes. The outflow suggests some profit-taking and is a sign of a technical correction, she says. Investors are watching coming U.S.-China trade talks which could ease safe-haven demand for the precious metal, Kim adds. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)

0628 GMT - TMBThanachart Bank has positive business prospects, says Maybank Securities (Thailand)'s Jesada Techahusdin in a research report. Based on an analyst meeting with the CEO, the bank plans to focus on reducing credit costs and controlling operating expenditure to offset the contraction in net interest income. The brokerage sees improving asset quality with lower non-performing loan formation at the Thai bank. The CEO guides for a stable dividend payout ratio at 60% and plans to enhance shareholder returns through share buybacks. The brokerage expects the Thai bank to use THB8 billion per year to buy back shares in 2026-2027. Maybank Securities (Thailand) upgrades its rating on the stock to buy from hold and raises its target price to THB2.10 from THB2.00. Shares last closed at THB1.86. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0541 GMT - Can Fin Homes appears upbeat on loan growth and margin prospects, HDFC Securities analysts say in a research report. Drivers are branch additions, product and client diversification, and an increase in direct sourcing channels, the analysts say. Management expects the home-financing solutions provider's delinquencies to further improve in 2H FY 2026 and to deliver credit costs below 15 bps in FY 2026. The brokerage raises its FY 2026 and FY 2027 profit-after-tax estimates for the Indian company by 2.6% and 1.5%, respectively. It also revises up the stock's target price to INR915.00 from INR900.00 with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 0.4% higher at INR849.40. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0456 GMT - Moshi Moshi Retail Corp.'s 2026 earnings outlook appears solid, CGS International's Chaiyatorn Sricharoen says in a research report. Drivers are the company's aggressive store expansion with 36 new stores in 2025 and 25 new stores in 2026, further gross margin improvement, and operating leverage from scale efficiencies, the analyst says. Once the Thailand company's same-store sales growth turns positive, probably from December 2025 onward, investor sentiment should improve, the analyst adds. The brokerage slightly raises the stock's target price to THB48.00 from THB47.75 to partly reflect a valuation base roll-forward, while reiterating the add rating. Shares last closed at THB35.25. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0432 GMT - DBS and OCBC's 3Q results are likely weighed by continued net interest margin compression, says UOB Kay Hian's Jonathan Koh in a note, citing depressed local interest rates. He expects NIM compression to continue into 1H 2026, although the city-state's domestic stability is likely to still attract liquidity. Growing wealth management fees at both banks could mitigate some of the drag from compressed NIMs, he adds. The lenders' asset quality is also likely to remain generally benign. UOB KH has a hold rating and S$55.25 target price on DBS and a buy rating and S$20.12 target price on OCBC. DBS falls 0.1% to S$52.72, while OCBC declines 0.4% to S$16.76. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0239 GMT - Insurance Australia Group's bulls at UBS continue to see potential for the company to beat its medium-term margin targets. Analysts at the investment bank see the insurer's latest update as a signal that it is performing strongly, with its recent RACQ acquisition surpassing expectations. They reckon that the stock is trading at a 12% discount to its trailing five-year average price-to-earnings ratio, which they tell clients in a note represents compelling value. They think that IAG could beat its margin targets thanks to its conservative catastrophe budgets, and potential upside from resinsurance profit commission. UBS has a A$9.65 target price on the stock, which is up 3.2% at A$8.12. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0104 GMT - Kiatnakin Phatra Bank provided a positive tone at an analyst meeting, UOB Kay Hian's Thanawat Thangchadakorn says in a research report. The CEO disclosed the bank's car hire purchase portfolio has been cleaned up and guided the bank will focus on asset quality and lend selectively, the analyst notes. Hence, the quality of the Thailand bank's loan portfolio should continuously improve, the analyst says. The bank will probably maintain its capital management while its loan portfolio continues to shrink. The brokerage raises the stock's target price to THB68.00 from THB58.00 to reflect a valuation base-year rollover, with an unchanged hold rating. Shares last closed at THB65.75. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0040 GMT - Strong 3Q performances among U.S. insurers are seen by QBE's bulls at Citi as increasing the chances that the Australian company launches a buyback at its annual results announcement. Analysts at the investment bank tell clients in a note that an overall in-line performance in U.S. crop insurance by QBE's U.S. peers, coupled with their better-than-expected catastrophes performance, increases the prospects of a buyback announcement in February. They tip QBE for a potential beat of its December-half catastrophes budget. UBS has a buy rating and A$24.70 target price on QBE shares, which are up 1.0% at A$20.25.(stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1439 GMT - The strongest buyer's market in the U.S. is Austin, Texas, according to Redfin. Austin had an estimated 130% more home sellers than buyers in September. Following Austin is Fort Lauderdale, with 118.5% more sellers than buyers, and West Palm Beach, Florida, at 113%. All but two of the 10 strongest buyer's markets are in Texas or Florida, Redfin says. The U.S. had an estimated 36.7% more home sellers than buyers in September, meaning many of the buyers who were in the market had room to negotiate, according to Redfin. The real estate brokerage says that rents have gone down so much in Austin that many are opting to rent rather than buy. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1429 GMT - More than 53,000 home-purchase agreements nationwide were canceled in September, equal to 15% of homes that went under contract that month, according to Redfin. That's up from 13.6% a year earlier. Homebuyers are ghosting sellers at a higher rate in some parts of the country, mostly in Florida and Texas. Deals are falling through at a fairly high rate nationwide, mainly because each party has different expectations for the deal and aren't willing to compromise. That's especially true when it comes to concessions and repairs, leading to a growing number of deals falling through. In a market where home prices and mortgage rates are high and competition is low, buyers want the home they buy to be perfect. Sellers, for their part, want to get the price they have in mind and avoid losing money on the deal. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1245 GMT - The Bank of England could face hurdles evaluating risks in the U.K. private credit market as it lacks direct regulatory oversight on the sector, ING'S Marine Leleux says in a note. BOE policymakers Andrew Bailey and Sarah Breeden on Tuesday told the parliamentary Financial Services Regulation Committee about plans to conduct a system-wide stress test on the U.K. private credit market. The U.K. central bank "will need to cooperate with the sector to gather the necessary data and conduct the exercise," Leleux says. Introducing regulatory measures in the sector could also be difficult, especially in the current environment which seems to favor deregulation, she says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2025 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)

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