Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise in Afternoon Trading

01:39 PM EST, 01/29/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose in Thursday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index advancing 0.6% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) adding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index eased 0.1%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) gained 1%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 6.6% to $83,769, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries dropped1.6 basis points to 4.235%.

In economic news, weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US dropped, while continuing claims touched the lowest since September 2024, government data showed. Last week, the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims decreased by 1,000 to 209,000 from the previous week's average, which was revised up by 10,000, the Department of Labor said. The consensus was for 205,000 in a Bloomberg poll.

New orders for US factory goods rose 2.7% in November, above expectations for a 1.6% increase in a Bloomberg survey and following a 1.2% drop in October.

In corporate news, Mastercard (MA) reported Q4 results ahead of Wall Street's estimates, buoyed by double-digit gains in cross-border volume amid healthy spending trends. The shares gained 3.4%.

BBVA (BBVA) plans to issue two risk transfer deals linked to about 7 billion euros ($8.4 billion) of assets, Bloomberg reported. BBVA shares added 0.4%.

Blackstone (BX) is in advanced talks to become the largest shareholder of New World Development, Bloomberg reported. Blackstone shares fell 3.1%.

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