The latest Market Talks covering FX and Fixed Income. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1422 ET - Canada's AI ambitions may be constrained less by talent or research and more by its failure to capitalize on a natural structural advantage, ATB Cormark analyst Martin Toner tells WSJ. He points to the country's "copious amounts of hydroelectric" power, a resource he describes as one of the world's strongest foundations for energy-intensive AI infrastructure, as an underused opportunity. While global investment in data-center capacity accelerates, Toner says Canada has yet to fully leverage its energy profile to attract or scale AI-driven compute. The gap between potential and deployment, he says, is becoming more visible as U.S. and international players move faster to build the next generation of AI-ready infrastructure. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1420 ET - Gold and silver futures finish higher, even as traders see potential rate hikes as a pressure point for prices. Further downside could come with a "major risk-off event," says analysts with Citi Research in a note. With such an occurrence, including a deescalation in the U.S./Iran conflict and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, gold would "likely bottom out" before rebounding in the second-half of the year. But gold and silver have a positive day, with underlying support still coming central bank demand. Front-month gold gains 0.6% to $4,531.30 a troy ounce, while silver rises 1.4% to $75.851/oz. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1406 ET - The minutes from the Fed's April meeting show that a growing group of officials raised hawkish concerns as the Iran conflict lifted inflation. At the central bank's previous meeting in March, a group of "some" participants had said there was a strong case for the Fed to give balanced guidance that its next move could be either a hike or cut, leaning against the status quo that an eventual cut was in the cards. In April, this group grew to include "many" officials who would have preferred more neutral language in the policy statement. The April minutes also note that in general, officials broadly thought that rates will need to stay on pause for longer than they had previously penciled in. (matt.grossman@wsj.com; @mattgrossman)
1404 ET - One factor supporting a more hawkish Fed outlook: improving signals from the labor market. At the Fed's March meeting, officials' most recent data in hand was the ugly February jobs report. At the time, many officials were worried that "labor market conditions appeared vulnerable to adverse shocks," per the March minutes. But by their April meeting, Fed officials had their hands on the more upbeat March report, and most took the numbers as evidence of stabilization, according to the newly released April minutes. After the April Fed meeting, the strong April jobs report released earlier this month added further evidence that the labor market may be finding its footing. (matt.grossman@wsj.com; @mattgrossman)
1308 ET - Zcash's recent tear has stemmed from an increased interest among investors in blockchain infrastructure that can mitigate privacy concerns coming from improving quantum and AI technologies, says Eliézer Ndinga of 21shares. Ndinga says that Zcash is using "a more rigorous cryptographic approach that has steadily matured from academic theory into production-grade privacy," setting it apart from other privacy coins like Monero, which Ndinga says "has shown practical traceability at the margins." Zcash utilizes something called "zero-knowledge proofs," a way to provide proof of credentials without exposing additional sensitive data. Zcash is up 10% to $632.48, while Monero is down 0.1% to $398.24, according to data from LSEG. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1151 ET - Cryptocurrencies have turned higher after starting the day mixed, with bitcoin bouncing off of support seen by analysts around $76,000. Among major cryptocurrencies, Zcash looks to still be the hottest -- up 9.6% to $628.71, according to data from LSEG. The privacy coin continues to push higher, making it 16% its gained in the past week and more than 100% it has added in the past month. Earlier this month, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said in a post on X that he expects Zcash to reach a target equating to 10% of the price for BTC -- which would be over $7,700 as of today. Ethereum rises 1% to $2,139, XRP is up 1.2% to $1.37, and solana is up 1.7% to $85.88. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1139 ET - Bitcoin is up 1% to $77,741, and support is seen at just above $76,000, says Bitfinex in a note. More specifically, the firm says $76,318 is a key support level for the cryptocurrency. Liquidation of millions of dollars in long positions has been occurred so far this week, according to data from CoinGlass, but in the past 24 hours more short positions have been liquidated, totaling over $23 million, CoinGlass says.(kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1122 ET - While there was a welcome decline in U.K. inflation in April, the respite is likely to only be temporary as price pressures from the Iran war pass through, Investec's Sandra Horsfield says in a note. A rise of around 13% in the utility price cap from July could be confirmed by next week. Meanwhile, producer price inflation showed an unexpectedly strong jump in annual input price inflation to 7.7%. "We are braced for inflation to rebound visibly from here between now and autumn," Horsfield says. However, it remains possible that a weakening labor market persuades the majority of Bank of England policymakers that rate hikes aren't necessarily and that postponing rate cuts until 2027 will suffice, she says. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)
1115 ET - Treasury yields and the dollar deepen their decline as oil prices fall. Brent and WTI are down about 4%, reflecting hopes that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen soon. Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories plummeted by 7.9 million barrels last week, compared to WSJ consensus of a 3 million draw, keeping inflation concerns top of mind in Wall Street. Investors are likely to scrutinize Fed minutes this afternoon for clues on potential rate hikes. A 20-year Treasury auction is on tap this afternoon. The 10-year yield is at 4.603%, down from 4.653% earlier. The two-year falls to 4.066% from 4.112%. The WSJ Dollar Index slips 0.3%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)
1110 ET - People worried about AI creating mass unemployment have got it backwards, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says in a CNBC interview, predicting instead that AI may lead to labor shortages and deflation in goods such as food and housing. He says that AI will lead to productivity increases so big that some members of dual-income households may drop out of the labor force altogether, describing AI as handing a bulldozer to somebody digging out a basement with a shovel. "What's really going to happen is that it's going to elevate all of these people," he says. "The real job is going to be identifying problems and helping solve them." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1102 ET - The Bank of England is expected to continue actively selling its gilt holdings, a process referred to as quantitative tightening, over the next 12-month period starting in October, Morgan Stanley's Bruna Skarica says in a note. "We see risks as skewed towards a slower pace of active sales, albeit not their cessation," she says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
1059 ET - Crude futures extend losses, sliding as much as 4% despite a sharp drawdown in U.S. stocks and as traders continue to monitor U.S.-Iran negotiations. In U.S. morning trade, Brent crude declines 3.8% to $107.02 a barrel, while WTI futures fall 3.4% to $100.64 a barrel. The latest EIA data showed commercial crude oil inventories fell by 7.9 million barrels in the week ended May 15, while gasoline stocks declined by 1.55 million barrels. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, rapidly tightening global supplies, and the U.S. and Iran still appear far from reaching an agreement. Still, analysts say several factors could prevent prices from moving significantly higher. "One of the most significant could be a substantial reduction in global demand," says Alex Kuptsikevich from FxPro. "Higher interest rates could push economies closer to recession and reduce demand for energy commodities." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 14:22 ET (18:22 GMT)
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