Sector Update: Financial Stocks Decline Late Afternoon

03:47 PM EST, 01/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were lower in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index decreasing 0.9% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) dropping 1.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was falling 1.7%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.4%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 0.4% to $89,878, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries shed 1 basis point to 4.24%.

In economic news, the European Commission plans to suspend 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of counter tariffs on US goods for another six months after President Donald Trump walked back his threat to impose levies on EU countries that opposed his plan to annex Greenland, news outlets reported.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised up Friday to 56.4 for January from 54.0 in the preliminary estimate, compared with expectations for no revision in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The January flash reading of manufacturing conditions from S&P Global rose slightly to 51.9 from 51.8 in December, compared with an expected reading of 52.0 in a Bloomberg survey.

In sector news, Ledger, a French cryptocurrency company, has reached out to bankers for an initial public offering in the US that could value it at more than $4 billion, Financial Times reported. The company is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs (GS), Jefferies (JEF), and Barclays (BCS) regarding the plan, which could take place as early as this year, according to the report.

In corporate news, Citigroup (C) is expected to lay off more employees in March, including managing directors and senior staff across several business divisions, Reuters reported. The company is expected to announce the job cuts after bonuses are paid, the report said. Citi shares were down 1.8%.

UBS (UBS) is planning to make cryptocurrency investment available for some private banking clients, Bloomberg reported. The Swiss bank is currently in the process of selecting potential partners for the crypto offering, according to the report. UBS shares were down 0.9%.

Capital One Financial (COF) agreed to buy AI-backed financial software platform Brex for $5.15 billion in cash and stock. The consideration includes $2.75 billion in cash and 10.6 million shares, Capital One said Thursday. Capital One shares were down 7.3%.

Blackstone (BX) and Austrian billionaire Andreas Kaufmann, owners of Leica Camera, are considering the sale of a controlling stake in the German camera maker, valuing the potential deal at about 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), Bloomberg reported. Blackstone shares were shedding 3.4%.

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