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

1540 ET - Wells Fargo's CEO echoes Treasury Secretary Bessent's proclamation on CNBC earlier that "the K-shaped economy is over." Charlie Scharf says the data supports Bessent's comment. He says credit card spending is up 10% and it's not just affluent customers--with mass market customers driving a third of the spending. On the debit card side, Scharf says spending is up 7% and about 70% of the increase is from the mass customer. "So everyone is spending more, delinquencies are down, the savings rate is up," he says on CNBC. Still, Scharf says people seem concerned as seen in consumer confidence data, but he cites tax refunds and the job market as positives and the fact that average direct-deposit paychecks are rising faster than inflation for his customers. (patrick.sheridan@wsj.com)

1222 ET - A streak of monthly outflows seen in bitcoin ETFs was broken in July, according to data from 21shares. The firm reports that in July bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of roughly $400 million. This comes after two straight negative months for ETFs, with $4.56 billion in net outflows in June, says 21shares. The firm says that the return of capital to bitcoin ETFs may be a factor that pushes bitcoin prices up in August. "Bitcoin is knocking on a key resistance level, $66,000, which it hasn't broken in 50 days," says the firm. Bitcoin is up 0.3% to $63,981. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1220 ET - Park Slope in Brooklyn, N.Y., is the hottest luxury neighborhood of 2026, according to Redfin. Highland Park, Ill., is close behind, with Overland Park, Kan., ranking third. This is according to a Redfin analysis ranking U.S. zip codes in the 100 most populous metro areas--with median home sale prices within the 65th percentile and above for their parent metro--by year-over-year growth in listing views on Redfin.com and Redfin Compete Score. "Unfazed by high mortgage rates and an uncertain global economy, luxury homebuyers are having an outsized impact on the otherwise tepid spring 2026 housing market," Asad Khan, Redfin Senior Economist says. "These high-end neighborhoods on this list are hot because there's not enough supply to meet the high demand," Khan adds. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1012 ET - Investors are gradually returning to trading cryptocurrencies, after a big wind-down seen in June. It appears to be a sign of investor appetite for cryptocurrencies slowly returning, says Colin Basco of Coinbase Institutional in a note. "Positioning looks rebuilt rather than flushed, with open interest expanding even as turnover contracted," says Basco. CoinGlass data shows that bitcoin is exhibiting higher levels of liquidation of short positions over the past 24 hours, with $164 million in shorts liquidated in that time. Major cryptocurrencies are mixed in morning trade, with bitcoin up 0.1%, ethereum flat, XRP down 0.8% to $1.07, and solana down 0.1% to $73.73. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0732 ET - Metro Bank Holdings shares took a hit from profit-taking by investors as the U.K. bank's customer deposits dipped and capital and liquidity ratios declined, AJ Bell's Russ Mould says. Customer deposits fell to 13.22 billion pounds from 13.36 billion pounds, while the CET1 capital ratio slipped to 12.3% from 12.8%. Metro Bank has diverged from the industry trend for branch closures and has focused on specialist and commercial markets rather than consumer lending activities, AJ Bell says. "These initiatives do appear to be bearing some fruit but the reaction to [Tuesday's] update is a reminder that the Metro Bank may well be kept on a short leash by the market thanks to its less than stellar long-term showing as a public company," AJ Bell's Mould writes. Shares fall 8.7% to 164 pence. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0648 ET - Supply of new euro-denominated senior preferred bonds slowed in July due to a summer slump, ING's Marine Leleux says in a note. Senior preferred bonds are debt securities issued by banks which combine bond features and equity-like features. French issuers led the supply of new senior preferred bonds in July, issuing 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), Leleux says. European banks supplied a total of 3.5 billion euros in senior preferred bonds over July, she says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0513 ET - Adyen should deliver a solid second-quarter performance to ease concerns, Jefferies analysts Hannes Leitner and Charles Brennan write in a note. The Amsterdam-based payments provider is due to report its first-half results on Aug. 13. Market sentiment continues to be gloomy, they say. "A solid second quarter with more than 20% constant currency growth would be enough without fully de-risking 2026 guidance," they add. Shares are up 2% at 926.90 euros. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0506 ET - HSBC Holdings' results show notable growth in the London-based bank's balance sheet, which limited its capital distribution, explaining a smaller-than-expected share buyback of $1 billion, Jefferies's Joseph Dickerson says. HSBC's buyback fell short of the $2 billion Jefferies expected, the analyst says in a research note. The results should lead to modest upgrades to the consensus estimate despite HSBC flagging that it might increase costs this year and next to accelerate initiatives around revenue growth, with incremental cost savings of $500 million offsetting the rise, Jefferies says. An increase in Hong Kong new-to-bank customers should help to allay recent concerns among investors about compliance matters in China, Jefferies says, referring to recent penalties against brokers in the country. Shares in London are up 1.3% at 1,576.60 pence. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0350 ET - Market concerns about Adyen's ability to cope with a challenging environment appear overdone, Citi's Pavan Daswani writes in a note. The Amsterdam-based payments provider's shares have fallen more than 30% year-to-date due to concerns around consumer spending, increased competition and the company's M&A strategy, he notes. However, an analysis of the percentage Adyen retains from each transaction, along with recent peer results suggests "no meaningful deterioration in spending trends, wallet-share dynamics or competitive intensity." Additionally, the company's strategy to expand its operations beyond payments into related e-commerce sectors is supported by its recent acquisitions, he says. Shares are up 2.2% at 928.20 euros. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

2239 ET - Malaysia's equity market is expected to remain volatile amid domestic political uncertainty and geopolitical risks, Affin Hwang IB analysts say in a note. They downgrade Malaysia's equity market rating to neutral from overweight after Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional's landslide victory in the Negeri Sembilan state election. This victory has raised the likelihood of an early general election in late 2026 or early 2027. Consequently, they lower their year-end Kuala Lumpur Composite Index target to 1730 from 1780. They warn that an early election could delay the government's structural reforms and heighten market volatility; as a result, they favor defensive stocks such as AMMB, Telekom Malaysia, and YTL Power International. The KLCI is flat at 1725.37. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

2227 ET - The pass-through from earlier fuel price increases and rupiah weakness look milder than previously feared after Indonesia July's softer-than-expected inflation reading, Kenanga IB economists say in a note. However, they continue to expect price pressures to build over the remainder of the year, driven by higher fuel prices, a weak rupiah and resilient domestic demand. Kenanga maintains its 2026 Indonesia inflation estimate at 3.1%, amid higher fuel prices and weak rupiah. They expect Bank Indonesia to keep its policy rate unchanged at 5.75% in the near term, as inflation remains within target and the rupiah has stabilized around 18,000 against the U.S. dollar. The central bank is likely to remain cautious amid persistent external uncertainties and its focus on preserving rupiah stability, Kenanga adds. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

2124 ET - Maybank's acquisition of the remaining stake in insurance unit Etiqa is a tactically positive move, giving the bank full control of a strategically important franchise while improving capital flexibility, Hong Leong IB analyst Raymond Ng says in a note. The deal could strengthen Maybank's bancassurance business by deepening cross-selling and streamlining regional insurance operations. Ng thinks execution will be key, particularly in lifting insurance penetration, improving return on equity and increasing dividend upstreaming from Etiqa over the medium term. He raises Maybank's 2026-2028 earnings forecasts by 1.4%-1.6% to factor in full contribution from Etiqa. Hong Leong raises Maybank's target price to 11.10 ringgit from 10.80 ringgit, while maintaining a hold rating on the stock. Shares are unchanged at 10.84 ringgit.