The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1323 ET - Nearly 3 million owner-occupied homes across the country have at least two mothers living under one roof, Realtor.com says, among the nearly 4 million U.S. multigenerational households. Sellers are asking 65% more for multigenerational homes amid high competition, especially in southern and eastern markets, where supply is thin. In 2024, 4.5% of all owner-occupied households were multigenerational, defined as containing three or more generations, which was up from 4.3% in 2019. The typical multigenerational household includes five people sharing a four-bedroom home, with a median annual household income of $131,000. In 2025, the median list price for a multigenerational house was $709,000, roughly 65% higher than the $429,900 median for a standard listing. Some of the premium is due to the fact that multigenerational homes are typically larger-sized. (chris.wack@wsj.com)
1312 ET - Both PayPal and Coinbase are laying off a large portion of staff as they look to revamp their businesses using AI. WSJ reports that PayPal is cutting 20% of jobs as CEO Enrique Lores says the company will accelerate its adoption of AI. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong makes the link much more explicit, tying his company's roughly 14% layoffs to AI productivity gains. "AI is changing how we work," he writes in a letter to employees announcing the cuts. "The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day." Coinbase is down 3.9%, while PayPal slides 9%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1255 ET - Luxury zip codes in the San Francisco Bay area saw a 13.4% average jump in home prices in the two years following the launch of ChatGPT, according to Redfin. That's a significantly larger jump than any other price segment in the area, and more than double the 6.3% average increase in the segment immediately below luxury. The most affordable Bay Area zip codes saw home prices fall. Luxury homeowners in Silicon Valley saw their housing wealth jump during the pandemic, and now it's jumping again thanks to AI, Redfin says. There has been an influx of AI companies opening up shop, and they're giving employees big compensation packages, according to Redfin. Homes are getting dozens of offers, which is driving up prices and causing many to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars over the list price, Redfin says. (chris.wack@wsj.com)
1243 ET - Visa is preparing for artificial intelligence agents to transform commerce. The company is expanding its Visa Agentic Ready program to issuers in Canada to prepare for when AI agents begin acting on behalf of customers to initiate and complete transactions. The program, which is also active in Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, will help banks and payment partners test agent-initiated payments, validate core payment flows and understand how agent-initiated transactions behave in practice, Visa says. Partners in the program include BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank and TD. Companies are increasingly preparing for the growth of AI agents, which can not only interact with users but also execute tasks autonomously.(chris.kuo@wsj.com)
1213 ET - After a brief streak of net outflows last week, bitcoin ETFs are back to bringing in money. According to data from Coinglass, before today bitcoin ETFs have turned positive for three straight days. Some $532 million in inflows were recorded Monday, with $630 million in inflows seen on Friday. Institutional buyers are seen driving these strong flows, according to Charles Edwards of Capriole Investments, institutions are buying up nearly 600% of the daily mined bitcoin supply. Roughly 450 bitcoins are newly minted a day, meaning that institutions are buying approximately 2,700 BTC a day, equating to $220 million-worth using today's price of $81,543. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1129 ET - Major cryptocurrencies are trending higher, and one factor supporting them is the advance made in the Clarity Act late Friday. A pair of senators released a long-awaited compromise on a bill to regulate the industry. Under the proposal, crypto companies would be forbidden from offering yields on so-called stablecoins, but could still pay "rewards" when customers perform certain activities on their platforms, which regulators would determine later. However, the fight is not over, cautions Nic Puckrin of Coin Bureau. "Banks will have to concede some ground," he says in a note. Bitcoin rises 2.1% to $81,628, ethereum is up 1.5% to $2,384, XRP climbs 1.5% to $1.41, and solana is up 2.1% to $85.79. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1117 ET - HSBC investors are focusing on an increase in costs related to bad loans and gloomier forecasts due to the U.S.-Iran war, AJ Bell's Russ Mould writes. The primary reason for soured investor sentiment is a $400 million hit from loans linked to alleged fraud in private markets in the U.K., Mould says. Sources linked the charge to collapsed lender Market Financial Solutions, The Wall Street Journal reported. The unexpected losses neutralize the boost provided by better-than-expected net interest income, Mould says. Moreover, the lack of new dividend or buyback announcements has left investors with little incentive to buy shares. HSBC shares fall 6.8% in London. (julia.nasser@wsj.com)
1057 ET - Bitcoin could extend gains while above the psychologically important $80,000 level, but investors should exercise caution, Zaye Capital Markets' Naeem Aslam says. The cryptocurrency remains at risk of sudden falls if sentiment changes, Aslam says. "It can fall if ETF flows turn negative, bond yields rise, the dollar strengthens, stocks sell off, regulation tightens, or geopolitical fear turns into panic." When Middle East tension "feels controlled" then investors often buy bitcoin as an alternative asset. However, they tend to sell if markets consider tensions to be chaotic, because bitcoin is liquid and risky, he says. "The message is: bullish above $80k, but not blindly bullish." Bitcoin rises to a three-month high of $81,680, LSEG data show. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)
1041 ET - PayPal says it wants to change the structure of its organization to cut costs. "This is about duplication. It is about layers. It is about org structure," Chief Financial and Operating Officer Jamie Miller tells analysts. The company wants to use more AI to cut costs, particularly in PayPal's customer service, Miller says. The use of AI is more about redesigning how the company operates, rather than just putting out new AI-driven technology, executives say. PayPal slides 10%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1007 ET - Stronger demand from institutions and rising interest in bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are helping to boost bitcoin, Zaye Capital Markets' Naeem Aslam says. Bitcoin rises around 2% to a three-month high of $81,680, LSEG data show. Stronger institutional demand is coming from higher spot bitcoin ETF inflows, regulated asset-manager products, public-company buying, and bitcoin reserve discussions, he says. "The strongest proof is ETF flow data because it shows real money entering regulated bitcoin vehicles." However, this is still mostly investment demand rather than payment demand, he says. Bitcoin has become less volatile than previously but it is still volatile compared with stocks, bonds or gold and therefore relatively risky, he says. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)
0613 ET - Hong Kong's strong GDP growth in 1Q is interesting for China watchers, says Zhiwei Zhang at Pinpoint Asset Management. The financial hub's much-higher-than-expected print reflects the recovery of the Chinese economy as well as the improvement in the geopolitical environment that China faces, the economist writes in a note. Hong Kong benefits from the recovery of China as a tourism destination, while the conflict in the Middle East underline the importance of safety and stability for financial centers. With China's investability no longer considered debatable by global investors, Zhang reckons Hong Kong will be able to sustain the economic momentum through the year. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)
0516 ET - OCBC's latest acquisition looks like a good way to incrementally grow its Indonesia franchise, S&P Global Ratings analysts say. The purchase of PT Bank HSBC Indonesia's retail banking and wealth-management operations should help the Singapore lender grow its fee-based business at a time of flattening bank-lending margins, they write in a note. The assets complement OCBC's Indonesia franchise, particularly in wealth management, which is attractive in a low-interest-rate environment as it augments recurring income to cushion earnings as Singapore banks face NIM compression. The deal's small size means that the immediate financial impact on OCBC is likely to be limited and S&P expects it to remain well-capitalized post-acquisition, with sufficient buffers to fund inorganic growth opportunities. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2026 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)
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