Sector Update: Financial Stocks Advance Late Afternoon

03:57 PM EST, 01/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose late Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each increasing 0.8%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 3.4%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) added 0.7%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) shed 0.7% to $90,603, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 5 basis points to 4.18%.

In economic news, US initial jobless claims rose to a level of 208,000 in the week ended Jan. 3 from an upwardly revised 200,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for an increase to 212,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

US consumer credit use rose by $4.2 billion in November, compared with a $10.1 billion increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a $9.2 billion increase in the previous month.

President Donald Trump said he has made up his mind on who he will nominate to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but he did not disclose the name, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing an interview with the president.

In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) is looking to secure roughly $2.6 billion in debt financing to support the merger of two power grid equipment suppliers, Bloomberg reported. According to the report, banks led by Barclays (BCS) are marketing a package of about $2 billion in first-lien debt and a $560 million second-lien loan. The proceeds will be used to recapitalize MacLean Power Systems, acquired from Centerbridge in December, and merge it with Blackstone-owned Power Grid Components, the report said. Blackstone shares gained 0.9%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) and Deutsche Bank (DB) are pre-marketing about $1.8 billion of debt tied to Investindustrial's acquisition of TreeHouse Foods (THS), Bloomberg reported. RBC shares rose 0.4%, and Deutsche added 0.6%.

Fiserv (FISV) is launching a collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT) to expand AI use across its platforms and workforce. Fiserv (FISV) will roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot company-wide to support employees with AI-powered tools. Fiserv (FISV) shares rose 1%.

Jefferies Financial (JEF) shares were down 4.8% after it reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.96 per diluted share, compared with the $1.04 estimate from an analyst polled by FactSet.

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