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Sector Update: Financial Stocks Higher Late Afternoon

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Financial stocks were advancing in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.9% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) up 0.7%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 1.2%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) added 0.7%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 1% to $77,301, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 3.1 basis points to 4.975%.

In economic news, the US consumer price index rose 0.4% month on month, the fastest pace since May and above July's 0.1% gain, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday. The move matched the Bloomberg-polled consensus. Core inflation, which excludes the more volatile food and energy components, jumped to a four-month high of 0.3%, exceeding market projections for an unchanged 0.2% growth.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 47.8 in September from 51.7 in August, larger than an expected decrease to 51.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Jefferies Financial (JEF) is on track for its best advisory quarter on record, though the strength will have limited pull-through to earnings amid trading headwinds, UBS said in a note. The firm kept its neutral rating on the stock but trimmed its price target to $61 from $65. Jefferies shares were down 3.6%.

Blackstone (BX) plans to buy many more tensor processing units from Alphabet (GOOGL) unit Google than initially outlined, The Information reported. The private equity and real estate giant's spending on TPUs could be several "multiples" beyond the $5 billion it announced under a joint venture with Google in May, the report said. Blackstone shares rose 2.4%.

KKR (KKR) and Francisco Partners have agreed to buy minority stakes in Italian software company TeamSystem from its main investor Hellman & Friedman, Reuters reported. KKR shares were up 0.2%.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) warehouses could receive huge volumes of arabica coffee from Brazil, with two trade majors processing the certification of their stocks, Reuters reported. ICE Futures US runs the arabica coffee contract, and majors Olam and Louis Dreyfus are seeking to certify thousands of bags of coffee at the exchange in time for the December contract, sources told Reuters. Olam is processing up to 200,000 bags, according to the report. Intercontinental Exchange shares added 1.1%.

What else is happening in Wire?

Wire

National Beverage Fiscal Q1 Earnings Fall, Revenue Rises

National Beverage (FIZZ) reported fiscal Q1 earnings late Thursday of $0.50 per diluted share, down from $0.60 a year earlier.One analyst polled by FactSet expected $0.59.Revenue in the three months ended Aug. 1 rose to $330.7 million from $330.5 million a year earlier.One analyst projected $342.1 million.National Beverage shares fell 3% in after-hours trading.

$FIZZ
Wire

Zumiez Q2 Loss Widens, Revenue Falls; Sets Q3 Guidance

Zumiez (ZUMZ) reported Thursday Q2 loss of $0.17 per diluted share, compared with loss of $0.06 a year earlier.Two analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of $0.14.Revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 1 was $209.0 million, down from $214.3 million a year ago.Two analysts expected $212.1 million.The company expects Q3 EPS of $0.00 to $0.10 on revenue of $222 million to $226 million. Two analysts expect EPS of $0.59, if comparable, and revenue of $238 million.Shares of the company fell over 15% in after-hours trading.

$ZUMZ
Wire

Box, OpenAI Launch Integration to Access Enterprise Content in ChatGPT

Box (BOX) entered a collaboration with OpenAI to launch an integration that lets users access and work with business content stored in its platform directly from ChatGPT.The integration can help accelerate clinical research, streamline legal workflows, and support financial analysts reviewing company reports, Box said Thursday in a statement.The feature is available starting Thursday for Box customers, with OpenAI rolling out access to users of ChatGPT's paid tiers over the coming days.Price: $34.10, Change: $-0.39, Percent Change: -1.13%

$BOX