Sector Update: Financial Stocks Advance Thursday Afternoon

01:51 PM EST, 12/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were higher in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index increasing 0.4% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) adding 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was adding 0.4%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was shedding 0.4%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 0.2% to $86,459, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was declining 3 basis points to 4.13%.

In economic news, the consumer price index rose 2.7% year over year from 3% reported in September, according to a Thursday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which did not collect survey data in October due to the federal government shutdown. The November print lagged the Bloomberg-polled consensus for a 3.1% increase. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.6% from a year ago, missing the forecasted 3% growth.

In corporate news, CVB Financial (CVBF) agreed to buy lender Heritage Commerce (HTBK) in an all-stock deal worth about $811 million to expand its Citizens Business Bank unit's presence in the Bay Area. Heritage shares rose 0.9%, and CVB fell 4.8%.

Major banks, including JPMorgan (JPM) , UBS (UBS), and Citigroup (C) , won a court ruling to block a 2.7 billion British pound ($3.2 billion) mass lawsuit in the UK over alleged forex rigging, Reuters reported. The case was brought by Phillip Evans, a former inquiry chair at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, on behalf of thousands of asset managers, pension funds, and financial institutions, the report said. JPMorgan (JPM) shares fell 0.1%, UBS climbed 3%, and Citi added 2%.

BlackRock's (BLK) Alex Shingler is stepping down from his role in the company as co-head of income investing for multi-asset strategies and solutions, he said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday. BlackRock (BLK) shares were up 0.4%.

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