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

0512 GMT - Bangkok Bank faces an earnings hit from lower investment gains and higher operating expenditures, UOB Kay Hian's Thanawat Thangchadakorn says in a research report. Based on the brokerage's checks with the Thai bank, no further material investment gains are expected that will support the bottom line. Also, the bank guides that the equity that is reported in other comprehensive income is currently marking losses. Moreover, Bangkok Bank says reductions in operating expenditures this year wouldn't be significant. The brokerage lowers its 2026 and 2027 earnings forecasts for Bangkok Bank by 12.9% and 9.7%, respectively. It cuts the stock's rating to sell from hold and the target price to THB140.00 from THB170.00. Shares are 0.6% lower at THB159.00. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0432 GMT - Until the "rules" of the new world order become clear, uncertainty will likely keep affecting business, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan tells the WSJ Leadership Institute at Davos, Switzerland. "The uncertainty causes people to say, 'Should I do something here or not? Should I invest there or not?'", Moynihan says. The U.S. economy is growing and there is appetite in corporate America to make acquisitions, they just need a set of rules, the banking executive says."I always tell people: The faster you can make it clear what's going on, the faster business can get to the other side of the river." More clarity on geopolitics, coupled with deregulation, should help, he says. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)

0314 GMT - Hong Kong's private-credit sector is likely to expand rapidly this year, intensifying competition for corporate lending, says KPMG China in its latest banking outlook report. Private credit's flexibility in structuring deals and delivering strong risk-adjusted returns could continue to draw attention, says Michael Monteforte, KPMG China co-head of financial risk management, but financial-service providers will need to balance these high-yield opportunities against risks such as illiquidity and regulatory requirements. Underwriting standards could be tested this year as more players enter the market, he says. "As more private credit funds enter Hong Kong, banks need a clearer view of where private-credit deals make sense for them--better insight into the risks, and the processes to handle them properly as the market grows," he adds.(megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0310 GMT - Lower immigration is starting to concern U.S. businesses, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan tells the WSJ Leadership Institute at Davos, Switzerland. Companies need labor to do construction work, manufacturing work, retailing work, and to work in hotels and restaurants--those are all important for the economy, the bank's CEO says. "When you talk to our small businesses, they're a little more worried about labor availability. And so the administration has to figure out how to satisfy that group," he says. Manufacturing repatriation and construction buildout efforts aim to spur companies to hire underemployed or unemployed people to re-train them and bring them in. Moynihan expects "a bit of a tug of war for the next 24 months" over immigration.(fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)

0246 GMT - Hong Kong's banking sector is poised to benefit from the city's strong initial-public offering and wealth management pipelines, says KPMG China in its latest banking outlook report. Banks are likely to enter 2026 from a position of financial strength with high liquidity and support from solid wealth management flows, says KPMG China financial services partner Benjamin Man. While outlook for the year remains uncertain given U.S.-China tensions, tariffs and divergent monetary policies, he expects banks to be able to withstand global shocks and pursue growth in areas such as IPO deals and wealth management. These areas have the highest demand and its risk-adjusted returns are the most attractive, he adds. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0101 GMT - Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan is bullish on the U.S. economy, saying the bank expects GDP to grow at a clip of 2.8% in 2026, above consensus views for 2.1%. BofA's economic research team raised its forecast to reflect consumer spending, wage growth and tax bill stimulus, he tells the WSJ Leadership Institute at Davos, Switzerland. "And then you have on the business side you have bonus depreciation and others things made permanent so people can go and plan on it," the CEO says. Then there's AI buildout, reshoring and lower interest rates--add all that up and it's a lot, he says. People always talk about what the Fed will do next, but seem to forget that it has cut rates, and the benefit of that will be seen this year. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)

2137 GMT - Capital One's $5.15 billion acquisition of Brex builds on the company's hope to grow its business payments activity, CEO Richard Fairbank tells investors on a call. He credits Brex for pioneering a technologically integrated system of corporate payments and accounting."Business payments have been a growing part of our strategy and investment agenda," he says. "Our announcement today represents an important step change towards our business payments destination in a broader marketplace that we believe is ripe for reinvention." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

2141 GMT - Wealth-management platform provider Netwealth is upgraded to buy, from hold, by Jefferies after its shares fell by roughly 1/3 over the past six months. Analyst Simon Fitzgerald attributes that stock weakness to Netwealth's exposure to the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund and its agreement to compensate members in full. "In our view, the First Guardian collapse is an isolated event that has resulted in a buying opportunity in Netwealth," Jefferies says. Netwealth now trades on a price-to-earnings discount of 31% to listed rival Hub24. "This is despite robust new business momentum, as evidenced by 2Q net inflows of A$4.1 billion (second-highest on record)," Jefferies says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1429 GMT - Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon stresses the importance of security in the Arctic region in a CNBC interview at Davos, even as he acknowledged that geopolitical tensions can create a more uncertain business environment. "There's going to be noise mixed in with the substance," Solomon says in a discussion about President Trump's Greenland negotiations. "The substantive issue for the U.S. and Europe is Arctic security," he says. "If we come out of this with a strengthening of Arctic security for the U.S. and Europe, that will be a good thing for the world. I don't have to debate every discussion and every way that we get there." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1423 GMT - Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon is more bullish on U.S. economic growth than the general Wall Street view, he says in a CNBC interview at Davos. "We have a confluence of some very stimulative things that make us pretty optimistic about the level of growth that we could see in 2026," he says citing fiscal stimulus from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and government regulation, AI infrastructure spending, and productivity gains from AI implementation. "I think the nominal growth that we see will be out of the consensus," he says. "When you talk about the possibility for a multi-year run, I think we're set up where we have the possibility for a stronger growth trajectory for the next few years." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1415 GMT - U.S. pending home sales fell 2.9% year-over-year during the four weeks ending Jan. 18, Redfin says, the smallest decline in over a month, as mortgage rates declined. New listings dipped 1.6% year-over-year, the smallest decline since November. Mortgage-purchase applications rose 5% week-over-week to their highest level in three years. The slight improvements in homebuying demand and home listings are largely the result of falling mortgage rates. The weekly average mortgage rate dropped to a three-year low of 6.06% last week after President Trump ordered $200 billion in mortgage bond purchases. Lower mortgage rates have brought the median U.S. monthly housing payment down to $2,441, a 6.3% decline from last year. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1416 GMT - The Trump administration has listened to Bank of America's concerns around the president's call for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates, the bank's chief executive Brian Moynihan says. "My team and I talk to the administration all the time, and they listen," Moynihan told Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Moynihan says the White House is concerned by affordability in the U.S., and that their concerns are "completely understandable." However, Moynihan says the U.S. should focus on more housebuilding in order to ease affordability challenges. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2026 04:20 ET (09:20 GMT)

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