Sector Update: Financial Stocks Higher in Afternoon Trading

02:15 PM EDT, 10/29/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each adding about 1.3%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 2.6%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 1.8%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was shedding 0.1% to $80,753, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was dropping 5.2 basis points to 4.99%. In economic news, the personal consumption expenditures price index grew 0.5% in September, as expected, lifting the year-over-year rate to 3.6% from 3.4%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The price index increased by 0.3% month-over-month in August. The core PCE price index rose by 0.3%, as expected after a 0.3% gain in August. The year-over-year rate accelerated to 3.1% in September from 3.0% in the previous month. The US gross domestic product rose by 3.4% in Q3 after a 2.2% gain in Q2, above a 3.2% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. In corporate news, Mastercard (MA) shares rose 4.1% after it reported Q3 adjusted earnings and net revenue Thursday that rose year on year and beat analyst estimates. A UBS (UBS) relocation abroad is being analyzed by the Swiss government to see how the bank would fare if it attempted to escape the country's new, stringent capital rules, Reuters reported. UBS shares rose 2.7%. HSBC (HSBC) is in preliminary talks with insurers about offloading credit risk on data center loans, Bloomberg reported. HSBC shares were up 0.1%.