The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0547 ET - The news that HSBC made its interim chair Brendan Nelson permanent seems a little underwhelming, AJ Bell says in a market comment. Former U.K. Chancellor George Osborne and Goldman Sachs' Asia boss Kevin Sneader had been floated as candidates for the job, so the announcement--which came a day after HSBC's CEO said that Nelson didn't want to serve a full six-to-nine-year term as chair--was rather surprising. "Some may read between the lines that this is effectively still a short-term hire until HSBC can secure a higher profile candidate or someone with more direct banking experience," analyst Dan Coatsworth says. HSBC's shares in London slip 1%. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
0355 ET - Bank Jago's loan growth likely has room for additional upside into the year-end, say DBS Group Research analysts Nurkholis Syafruddin and Lim Rui Wen in a note. The Indonesian lender's loan growth reached 35.1% for the first 10 months of the year, which matches DBS's full-year target for the bank. Asset quality remains solid, with Bank Jago's cost of credit holding steady at 2.6% over the period on an annualized basis, underscoring well-controlled bad-debt formation and a healthy portfolio. DBS reiterates its buy rating and IDR3,000 target price, maintaining the lender as one of its top sector picks. Shares rise 1.0% to IDR2,090. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0345 ET - PICC Property & Casualty's business operations and outlook appear intact to Citi analysts Michelle Ma and Amy Jy Chen, despite a report that says Chinese authorities are investigating the insurer's president. As a central state-owned enterprise, the company has well-established operational systems, the analysts say in a note. The analysts also reckon its business outlook could continue to benefit from tighter regulation on underwriting. Its non-auto insurance segment's combined ratio, which measures how much an insurer spends on claims and expenses compared with its earned premiums, is also likely to improve next year thanks to expense rationalization, the analysts say. Citi retains its buy rating on PICC and HK$21.20 target price. Shares closed 4.0% lower at HK$17.04. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0313 ET - Malaysia's banking sector is expected to remain resilient, Kenanga IB analyst Clement Chua writes in a note. Asset quality risks are likely to be benign, as banks remain well-provisioned and focused on tactical provisioning for specific accounts rather than broad macro overlays. Loan growth are also expected to pick up in 4Q. However, net interest margins during the quarter could still see sequential weakness, due to the seasonal deposits competition as banks load up on liquidity. Kenanga IB remains overweight on Malaysia's banking sector.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0023 ET - OCBC remains constructive on Singapore equities next year. Apart from the city-state's sound fundamentals and healthy economic growth, its favorable risk-reward versus most other developed markets should also provide strong price support, OCBC analysts write in a note. One key advantage for Singapore equities is the high average dividend yield of the 30 companies that make up the STI. Their current dividend yield of 4.7% compares favorably with the rest of the region, which ranges from 1.6% to 4.5%, the analysts note. With the global outlook staying muted, OCBC expects Singapore banks to continue growing their regional footprints and regional incomes. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
2328 ET - Asia's GDP growth is likely to be slightly lower at 3.6% in 2026 from 3.7% projected for this year, Nomura's economists say. They see strong AI demand, higher memory prices and spillovers from a weak China driving a North-South divide within the region. Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and India are likely to outperform, while China, Thailand, and the Philippines will likely disappoint due to weaker domestic demand, they say. Central banks of Korea, New Zealand, and Australia could remain on an extended pause. Thailand, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines will likely deliver further rate cuts, they add. (monica.gupta@wsj.com)
1840 ET - AUB Group's bulls at Macquarie stay positive given apparent resilience in the insurance broker's premium-rate pricing. Resuming coverage of the stock with an outperform rating, Macquarie's analysts highlight what looks like better pricing trends relative to peers including Steadfast. They point out that AUB management says they haven't seen the softening observed elsewhere, with client and product mix among the possible explanations. The Macquarie analysts tell clients in a note that AUB's commentary and medium-term contracts imply potential upside to their forecasts from fiscal 2027 onwards. Macquarie puts a A$37.40 target price on the stock, which is down 1.4% at A$31.115. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1502 ET - U.S. bank stocks have only modest upside heading into next week's industry-wide conferences, Baird analysts say in a note. The analysts expect constructive commentary from executives given solid loan growth and benign credit trends, but the risk versus reward setup looks just ok due to recent strength, they say. Relative to the broader market, bank stocks still look solid, the analysts say, noting they prefer regional banks over money centers given their valuation discount. "Fundamentals are trending in the right direction, and the group's absolute risk/reward trade-off seems reasonable with better upside in the regionals from our perspective," they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1453 ET - Bank of Nova Scotia delivered a solid EPS beat for its fourth quarter, supported by strength in global business and markets and its wealth management operation, Raymond James' Steven Boland says. The bank has affirmed expectations for double-digit earnings growth next year, thanks to an improvement in Canadian banking as credit-loss provisions normalize from elevated levels and net interest margin continues to trend higher, Boland says. The analysts views Scotiabank as offering greater return on equity potential than its peers, and reckons the bank's 14% target is conservative. Raymond James retains an outperform call and lifts its target on the shares C$1 to C$109. (robb.stewart@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 03, 2025 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)
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