Financial Services Roundup: Market Talk

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

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. ([email protected])

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. ([email protected])

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. ([email protected])