Sector Update: Financial

01:20 PM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Wednesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.7% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) up 0.6%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was decreasing 0.3%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was shedding 0.5%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 1.7% to $84,356, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries decreased 1 basis point to 5.11%. In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) and a unit of Apollo Global Management (APO) are in preliminary talks with the National Football League to join the list of approved private equity firms that can acquire minority stakes in teams, Bloomberg reported. Blackstone shares were down 0.7%, and Apollo rose 0.8%.