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Sector Update: Financial Stocks Softer Friday Afternoon

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Financial stocks were lower in Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index down 0.1% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) shedding 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index shed 0.4%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) rose 0.2%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was down 0.3% to $63,042, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was rising 5.5 basis points to 4.70%.

In economic news, retail sales slid 0.6% in July amid declines in spending on motor vehicles and at gas stations, following a 0.2% increase in June, the Census Bureau reported Friday. The consensus was for 0.1% growth, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The probability of the Federal Reserve extending its policy pause to September jumped to almost 70% by Friday afternoon, from 56% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool, building on gains after data this week showed headline and core consumer and wholesale price inflation rates declined year over year in July.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 51.0 in August from 55.2 in July, below expectations for a much smaller decrease to 55.0 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

In corporate news, the US Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating Radiant World's iron ore trades amid concerns that it provided banks with falsified documents, Bloomberg reported. Jefferies Financial's (JEF) Point Bonita fund is reviewing its exposure to Radiant World, Bloomberg reported two weeks ago. Deutsche Bank (DB) and KBC have frozen some of Radiant World's bank accounts in Singapore, according to a separate Bloomberg report on Aug. 6. Jefferies shares were down 1.6%, and Deutsche was up 0.3%.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has cut off banking access for prediction-market platform Polymarket over regulatory concerns, the Financial Times reported. The FT said the move comes as US regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, maintain scrutiny of prediction markets. JPMorgan shares were shedding 0.2%.

Nu (NU) shares jumped 8.3% after the company reported overnight a year-over-year surge in Q2 net income and revenue.

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