The latest Market Talks covering FX and Fixed Income. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1141 ET - Canadian homebuilding activity plummeted in July to the lowest number of starts in over a year, yet homebuying activity in the country appears to be recovery from the weak start to 2026, says Desjardins' Kari Norman. The economist notes the drop in starts was entirely within the ever-volatile multi-unit segment, while single-family construction was about the same as a month earlier. The six-month trend for starts was essentially flat but still the lowest in 15 months and about half the roughly 500,000 housing starts needed annually to restore prepandemic levels of affordability, Norman says. Still, existing home sales in July rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% on-month and the average national sale price and benchmark price were little changed. (robb.stewart@wsj.com; @RobbMStewart)

1127 ET - Bitcoin turns positive, with the cryptocurrency now trading up 0.5% to $64,678. A contraction in spot demand for bitcoin has been a driving factor behind the tumble in prices seen since last year, but that contraction may soon end, says analysts with CryptoQuant in a note. "The 30-day apparent spot demand has recovered from -206K BTC on July 23 to roughly -5K today - on the cusp of turning positive for the first time since February 26, 2026," says the firm in a note. Historically, bitcoin prices have climbed when changes like this occur, the firm says. "When spot apparent demand crosses from negative to positive, bitcoin has historically risen," says CryptoQuant, with the token up 18% over the following 60 days after the switch. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1059 ET - The recovery in tourism to the Gulf from outside the region remains slow and could stay weak for some time, Capital Economics says. Concerns about renewed conflict and flight cancellations risk continuing to weigh on travel by non-GCC visitors, says William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. Spending in Bahrain on cards issued outside the Gulf is down around 40% from a year ago, while spending on GCC-issued cards has largely recovered, he says. If the weakness persists, tourists could increasingly shift to destinations including the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, with Morocco and Thailand also potential beneficiaries, Jackson says. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)

1055 ET - Cash buyers are beginning to lose some of the outsized influence they gained during the pandemic housing boom, according to Realtor.com. Cash purchases accounted for 31.4% of home sales during the first four months of 2026, down from 32.3% a year earlier, as easing prices, improving inventory and changing market conditions helped more financed buyers re-enter the market, Realtor.com says. Cash buyers are pulling back faster than the market as a whole: total home sales fell 8.5% year- over-year, but the number of cash sales fell 11.2% as the pool of cash buyers shrinks, according to Realtor.com. Cash buyers aren't disappearing; they're simply becoming less dominant as the housing market finds its footing, Realtor.com says. More inventory and moderating prices are giving financed buyers more opportunities to compete, Realtor.com says. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1055 ET - Investors await Nvidia's earnings due to be released on Aug. 26 to provide insights on the strength and broadness of demand for AI, UBS Global Wealth Management's Mark Haefele says in a note. This comes as some investors worry about circular financing in the AI industry, Haefele says. Nvidia has teamed up with big financial institutions to create a financing package of over $500 billion for AI expenditure. This initiative "has raised questions about circularity when suppliers help finance purchases within their own ecosystem," Haefele says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

1054 ET - Rising interest-rate expectations for the Riksbank have failed to support the Swedish krona, Commerzbank's Michael Pfister says in a note. The evidence instead suggests that, in the short term, the krona tends to drive rate expectations rather than vice versa, he says. One possible reason for this is the lower liquidity in Swedish capital markets, prompting investors to sell Swedish assets in the event of geopolitical shocks. Krona movements could also be feeding directly into rate expectations via imported inflation. A lasting end to the Middle East conflict would support the krona relative to the Norwegian krone, he says. The krona would benefit from lower oil prices and wouldn't be affected by the pricing out of rate rises. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

1046 ET - U.S. home prices increased 0.27% month-over-month in July, Redfin says. That's essentially flat from a 0.28% growth rate in June. Prices rose 3.4% from a year earlier, the fastest annual growth in a year. Buyers are still contending with high housing costs including high mortgage rates keeping a lid on demand. At the same time, there are hundreds of thousands more sellers than buyers in the market. The strong luxury market is one reason why price growth remains fairly strong despite tepid demand, Redfin says. Luxury home prices are rising faster than non-luxury prices. Wealthy homebuyers are having an outsized impact on home-price growth, especially in affluent markets like the Bay Area and South Florida. Home prices rose in 29 major U.S. metros month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis in July, according to Redfin. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1025 ET - Much like bitcoin, ethereum has been locked in range-bound trading for much of the summer, but the range is thinning, on either side of $1,900. "It remains below the 200-day moving average, while resistance near $1,950 is still intact," says Bret Kenwell of eToro in a note. "Active traders may now be waiting for a break from this tightening range, with bulls seeking an upside breakout and bears watching for support to fail." Ethereum is down 0.3% to $1,899 currently, while bitcoin inches 0.1% lower to $64,281. Other major cryptocurrencies are mixed. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1012 ET - Treasury yields give back some of their sharp increases after fresh data indicates weakness in the U.S. economy. July housing starts fall 12.4%, deeper than the 6.1% shrinkage expected by forecasters surveyed by WSJ. July industrial production expands by 0.2%, versus expectations of 0.4%. Yields had been rising on concerns over the long-term stability of a heavily indebted government. Increasing supply of bonds issued by AI corporations also boosts yields. The 30-year Treasury yield remains high, at 5.314%, but lower than an intraday peak of 5.337%. The 10-year slips to 4.728% from 4.748% and the two-year is down to 4.179% from 4.20%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

0954 ET - A net 19% of investors think that corporate balance sheets are overleveraged, Bank of America's global fund manager survey for August shows. This is an increase from 7% in July and marks the highest proportion of investors who take this view since March 2023, the survey shows. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0953 ET - A continued sharp rise in Treasury yields would potentially have negative dollar implications, Rabobank's Jane Foley says in a note. The Treasury market is suffering from concerns over the U.S. budget deficit, higher inflation and competition from corporate borrowing. Further pressure on Treasurys could test their safe-haven status, she says. The dollar's dominance in global payments means it should retain its own safe-haven status. However, a global shift away from the dollar could slowly erode its dominance in coming decades, she says. "This process would likely accelerate if the Treasury market's safe haven status becomes less anchored." The DXY dollar index trades flat at 99.607. Thirty-year Treasury yields hit a 19-year high of 5.337%, Tradeweb data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0951 ET - A total of 71% of investors don't expect AI-linked capital expenditure to be cut in 2026, the Bank of America global fund manager survey for August shows. This is an increase from July when 61% of investors said they don't expect a cut in AI spending. By contrast, 21% of investors expect a cut in AI expenditure.