Sector Update: Financial Stocks Decline Thursday Afternoon

02:10 PM EDT, 10/01/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were lower in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index falling 0.7% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) off 0.2%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was easing 0.1%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was shedding 0.6%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was rising 1.4% to $84,680, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was falling 7 basis points to 5.22%. In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index fell to 54.5 in September from 54.6 in August, compared with expectations for an increase to 55.0 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. The S&P Global US manufacturing index for September was revised to 55.9 from a flash reading of 57.0, compared with expectations for no revision in a Bloomberg poll. Employers in the US announced 43,281 layoffs in September, down 18% from the month prior and 20% year over year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Initial jobless claims fell sequentially to 197,000 in the week ended Sept. 26 from an upwardly revised 198,000 in the previous week, according to the US Labor Department. In sector news, Kalshi is finalizing a new financing round that would value the prediction market platform at around $40 billion, Bloomberg reported. In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) said it has launched defense technology firm Falcata through the acquisition and combination of TSC and Applied Systems Engineering. Shares were up 0.7%. UBS (UBS) pushed back against a call from major shareholder Artisan Partners to consider moving its headquarters outside Switzerland, the Financial Times reported. Shares fell 1.8%. Bank of America's (BAC) Merrill Lynch unit agreed to pay $39 million to resolve claims that it left retirement account customers earning extremely low interest on cash holdings, Reuters reported. Shares were shedding 1.2%.