Sector Update: Financial Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

03:53 PM EDT, 03/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks fell in late Wednesday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index decreasing 0.8% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) shedding 1%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index declined 2.2%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) lost 1.2%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped 3.5% to $71,374, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 5.7 basis points to nearly 4.26%.

In economic news, the Federal Open Market Committee kept the Federal Funds rate target unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, its statement Wednesday afternoon showed. Uncertainty in the US economic outlook remains "elevated," and the implications of the Middle East conflict are "uncertain," the statement said.

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.

In corporate news, loans originated by fintech lenders including Affirm (AFRM) and Upstart (UPST) are among the assets held by a private-credit fund that has restricted investor withdrawals, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a Stone Ridge Asset Management investor update. Affirm shares fell 5.5%, and Upstart dropped 6.3%.

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 shed 0.7%.

Gemini Space Station (GEMI) shares dropped past 15% 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 0.7%, and JPMorgan (JPM) increased 0.2%.

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