More than half of February's home listings sat on the market for at least 60 days without a contract, marking the highest share since 2019, according to Redfin. The $347 billion in stale inventory reflects a growing imbalance between sellers and buyers, with U.S. home sales falling 3.1% year over year. High mortgage rates and prices are deterring buyers, pushing the typical home's time on market to 66 days—the slowest pace in a decade.

As the IRS collects income taxes, the Treasury's bank account is projected to swell above $1.05 trillion by April 20, according to Wrightson analysts. This surge mirrors a decline in bank reserves as payments flow from taxpayers' accounts to the Treasury. While a reserves crunch last fall caused short-term repo market turbulence, the Fed's bond buying since December has helped maintain adequate reserves, reducing the risk of similar disruptions this April.

Global equities face continued pressure as the S&P 500 fell another 2.1% last week, marking its fifth consecutive weekly loss and hitting a seven-month low. Julius Baer's Mathieu Racheter warns that markets are shifting from pricing a contained disruption to a scenario where higher energy costs meaningfully weigh on global growth. The firm maintains a cautious stance, calling it premature to add equity exposure aggressively.

Philippine banks face elevated stagflation risks from the Mideast conflict, with OCBC Group Research trimming its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 4.8% and raising inflation expectations to 3.9%. Meanwhile, Raiffeisen's 591 million-euro acquisition of Garanti BBVA Group Romania comes at a premium valuation compared to recent regional deals, though it boosts the Austrian bank's scale in a fragmented market.