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Sector Update: Financial Stocks Advance Late Afternoon

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Financial stocks were advancing in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.3% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) ahead 0.8%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index added 0.9%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) shed 0.7%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was decreasing 0.2% to $73,361, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries decreased 1 basis point to 4.445%.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago PMI reading jumped to 62.7 in May from 49.2 in April, larger than the expected 50.3 reading in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and the highest reading in over four years.

In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) is selling the US Bank Center in Seattle to office landlord Spear Street Capital for about $280 million, 54% less than what it paid for the building seven years ago, Bloomberg reported. Blackstone shares were up 0.8%.

Apollo Global Management (APO) has received the European Commission's approval for its funds under Apollo Capital Management to buy Nippon Sheet Glass, according to a statement. Separately, Apollo-backed Shutterfly is marketing about $1.9 billion in loans and bonds, including $1.15 billion in junk notes, to refinance upcoming maturities, Bloomberg reported. Apollo shares rose 1.4%.

UBS (UBS) cut several hundred jobs across its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations in its latest round of reductions linked to the 2023 Credit Suisse takeover, Bloomberg reported. The cuts mainly affected support roles, with some client-facing bankers also impacted, the report said, adding that some employees were offered internal redeployment as UBS works to limit redundancies. UBS shares added 0.8%.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) said Friday it has agreed to acquire Maple Financial, the parent company of MapleMark Bank, a US commercial bank with operations mainly in Dallas, Texas. Bank of Nova Scotia shares were up 0.1%.

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