Sector Update: Financial Stocks Higher Late Afternoon
Financial stocks edged higher late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.2% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) up 0.1%.The Philadelphia Housing Index was decreasing 1.3%, while the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) increased 0.7%.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was falling 1.6% to $76,126, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 1.8 basis points to 4.35%.In economic news, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 92.8 in April from an upwardly revised 92.2 in March, compared with the 89.0 print expected in a Bloomberg survey. The poll for preliminary results was conducted from April 1 to April 22, which included the temporary two-week ceasefire in the Iran war.In sector news, Polymarket has had talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in recent weeks as it seeks regulatory approval to bring its main exchange back to the US, Bloomberg reported. Polymarket has technically banned US citizens from trading on its international platform since running afoul of regulators in 2022, and its US-based alternative has failed to fully launch, the report said.In corporate news, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was selected as the first global banking partner of the Olympic Games, the firm and the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday. Separately, JPMorgan is joining HSBC (HSBC) in providing a $6 billion financing for potential suitors of a stake in Kuwait Petroleum's crude oil pipeline network, Reuters reported. JPMorgan and HSBC shares were little changed.First Financial (THFF) shares added 1.1% after the company posted higher Q1 net income and revenue from a year ago.Barclays (BCS) shares decreased 0.4% after Bloomberg reported the bank had reserved 228 million British pounds ($307.9 million) in Q1 to cover the collapse of specialty lender MFS.Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) shares gained 1.9% after its board approved an increase of 2.5 million shares to its stock buyback program.