Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Tuesday Afternoon

01:52 PM EDT, 03/31/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 2.1% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) gaining 1.8%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 1.7%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 1.5%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was up 1.5% at $67,695, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was down 4 basis points at 4.30%.

In economic news, US job openings fell to 6.882 million in February according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, below the 6.890 million openings expected in a Bloomberg survey and down from the 7.240 million openings reported in January.

The Institute for Supply Management's Chicago PMI sank to 52.8 in March from 57.7 in February, compared with the 55.0 expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

The CME FedWatch tool showed Tuesday the probability of the Fed easing rates by 25 basis points jumped across its June to December meetings, compared with a day and a week ago.

In corporate news, KKR (KKR) said Tuesday it intends to acquire all outstanding shares of Taiyo through a tender offer as part of a plan to take the Japanese electronic materials manufacturer private. KKR shares rose 2.6%.

BlackRock (BLK) is exploring HSBC's (HSBC) skyscraper in Canary Wharf, among other sites, for its new headquarters in London, the Financial Times reported. HSBC (HSBC) shares rose 3.3%, and BlackRock (BLK) added 2.6%.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's broker at Morgan Stanley (MS) contacted BlackRock (BLK) in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in its Defense Industrials Active ETF shortly before the US launched military strikes against Iran, the Financial Times reported. Morgan Stanley (MS) shares were up 3.5%.

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