Sector Update: Financial Stocks Softer Wednesday Afternoon

02:07 PM EDT, 03/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks fell in Wednesday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index decreasing 0.6% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) shedding 0.7%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index declined 1.4%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) lost 0.7%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped 3.5% to $71,397, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was up 3 basis points to 4.23%.

In economic news, the producer price index for final demand increased 0.7% in February, up from 0.5% in January, and above the 0.3% forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Core PPI, which excluded food and energy prices, increased 0.5% in February from 0.8% in the month earlier, but higher than the 0.3% expected in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

US mortgage applications fell 11% in the week ended Friday, compared with 3.2% growth a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's survey.

New orders for US factory goods rose by 0.1% in January, in line with a survey compiled by Bloomberg, after a revised 0.4% decrease in December. Nondurable goods new orders increased 0.3%, compared with a 0.1% increase in the month earlier.

In corporate news, Gemini Space Station (GEMI) shares dropped 13% after Citigroup (C/PN) downgraded the stock to sell from neutral and cut its price target to $5.50 from $13.

Citigroup (C/PN) (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are running a sale process for Bain Capital's stake in Bridge Data Centers, CNBC reported Wednesday. Citi shares rose 1.3%, and JP Morgan gained 0.4%.

Barclays (BCS) expects the potential impairment from its exposure to Market Financial Solutions to be "materially lower" than 500 million pounds ($667.7 million), Bloomberg reported. Barclays (BCS) shares rose 0.7%.

Ares Management (ARES) is leading a 300 million euro ($346 million) single-asset continuation fund for MCH Private Equity-owned Europastry, Bloomberg reported. Ares shares added 2.4%.

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