Sector Update: Financial Stocks Advance Tuesday Afternoon

02:00 PM EDT, 10/20/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose in Tuesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each adding about 1%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 2.2%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 1.6%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 1.1% to $82,707, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was slightly lower at 5.13%. In economic news, US housing starts dropped to a four-month low in September amid declines in both single and multi-family units, while permits continued to trend downwards. Starts decreased 5.2% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.22 million units last month, its lowest level since May, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said Tuesday. The consensus was for a 1.9% increase to 1.31 million in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, based on an unrevised August reading. Pending home sales fell by 7.3% in September, well below the 0.5% decrease expected in survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a 0.3% increase in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. State-level data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday showed the unemployment rate fell in five states in September and held steady elsewhere. The largest unemployment rate decline was in Maryland and New Hampshire, where it fell by 0.2 percentage point each. South Dakota had the lowest rate at 2.0% while Washington DC had the highest at 5.6%. The national unemployment rate was reported at 4.2% in September, up from 4.1% in August. In corporate news, Equifax (EFX) shares climbed past 10% after it reported a jump in Q3 adjusted earnings and operating revenue. MSCI (MSCI) shares gained 4.3% after it reported higher Q3 adjusted earnings and operating revenue. Prudential Financial (PRU) agreed to sell its operations in Brazil and Mexico to CNP Assurances for about $4.03 billion in cash as it continues its withdrawal from emerging markets, the company said. Prudential shares rose 1.2%. NatWest's (NWG) National Westminster Bank has demonstrated contempt for its workforce by backing out of its commitments to staff and increasing office attendance requirements, Unite the Union said. The in-office requirement applies to more than 30,000 workers and will "pile additional financial pressure on staff already struggling with rising living costs while undermining arrangements relied upon by carers and disabled workers," the union said. NatWest shares were up 0.4%.