Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise in Afternoon Trading

01:57 PM EST, 02/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index up 0.6% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) ahead 1%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was adding 0.2%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was ahead 0.4%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was declining 3.2% to $67,196, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was decreasing 2.1 basis points to 4.03%.

In economic news, US initial jobless claims rose to 212,000 in the week ended Feb. 21 from an upwardly revised 208,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for 216,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

The Kansas City Fed monthly manufacturing index rose to 5 in February from 0 in January, higher than expectations for an increase to 2 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

In corporate news, Janus Henderson (JHG) was sent an offer to be acquired by Victory Capital for $57.04 per share, the latter said Thursday. Janus shares jumped 6%.

PayPal (PYPL) is not currently holding talks to sell itself to Stripe or any other company, Semafor reported. PayPal (PYPL) has been working for months with bankers to brace for the possibility of activist pressure or an unsolicited takeover approach, the report said. PayPal (PYPL) shares fell 5.5%.

Barclays (BCS) and Atlas SP Partners, the structured-credit arm of Apollo Global Management (APO) , each lent hundreds of millions of dollars to Market Financial Solutions, a UK mortgage-finance company that went into insolvency Wednesday, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Barclays (BCS) shares shed 0.8%, and Apollo was down 3.4%.

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