Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Friday Afternoon

02:07 PM EST, 12/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each adding about 0.8%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was shedding 0.9%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.3%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was rising 2% to $87,200, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was rising 3 basis points to 4.15%.

In economic news, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December was revised to 52.9 from a preliminary estimate of 53.3, compared with expectations for a revision to 53.5 in a Bloomberg survey. The final reading was 51.0 in November. Respondents in a Michigan survey see a 4.2% annual inflation rate over the next year and 3.2% over five years, declining from 4.5% and 3.4%, respectively, in November.

The pace of US existing home sales rose 0.5% to a 4.13 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in November from 4.11 million in October, compared with a larger expected increase to a 4.15 million rate in a Bloomberg survey, data from the National Association of Realtors showed.

In corporate news, Morgan Stanley (MS) is emerging as a leading contender for a key role in SpaceX's initial public offering, Reuters reported. Morgan Stanley (MS) shares gained 2.1%.

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) agreed to pay a total of $167.5 million in cash into a settlement fund resolving a class-action lawsuit that accused the firms of conspiring to inflate surcharges of independently owned, non-bank ATMs, according to a court document. Visa rose 0.8%, and Mastercard (MA) increased 0.6%.

Invesco (IVZ) shares rose 2.1% after the firm said its shareholders approved a plan to convert the Invesco QQQ Trust into an open-end fund ETF and adopt a board of trustees governance model.

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