Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise Thursday Afternoon

02:00 PM EDT, 10/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.4% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) ahead 0.8%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 2.9%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.4%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was falling 3.4% to $81,161, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was dropping 12 basis points to 5.03%. In economic news, the Conference Board's measure of leading indicators held steady in September, versus expectations for a 0.1% decrease in a Bloomberg-compiled poll as well as a 0.1% decline in August. Initial jobless claims fell sequentially to 194,000 in the week ended Oct. 17 from an upwardly revised 200,000, compared with expectations for 200,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. In corporate news, Nasdaq (NDAQ) shares gained 6.2% after the company reported Q3 earnings and revenue that beat analyst estimates. Blackstone (BX) reported Q3 distributable earnings Thursday of $1.32 per share, down from $1.52 a year earlier but above the FactSet consensus of $1.26. Revenue was $3.06 billion, down from $3.09 billion a year ago and below the FactSet consensus of $3.27 billion. Blackstone shares rose 6.1%. Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) shares jumped 13%. The company reported Q3 earnings late Wednesday of $0.79 per diluted share, swinging to profit from a loss of $2.22 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.34 per share.