Sector Update: Financial

03:39 PM EDT, 09/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were mixed in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index declining 0.5% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) fractionally higher. The Philadelphia Housing Index dropped 1.3%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) shed 0.7%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 5.9% to $81,042, and the yield on 10-year US Treasuries gained 5.7 basis points to 5%. In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) has secured a loan to help fund its acquisition of a controlling stake in data center cooling firm Flow Control from Audax Private Equity, Bloomberg reported. UBS (UBS) has been tasked with providing the loan, the report said, adding that the loan is expected to launch in the coming weeks. Blackstone shares were down 0.4%, and UBS was 0.1% higher.