Update on the Sector: Financial Stocks Continue to Rise as of Thursday's Close

The NYSE Financial Index increased 3.7% in afternoon trading on Thursday, and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF gained 4%. Financial stocks also rose along with the broader markets.

The SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF was up 1.8% while the Philadelphia Housing Index remained unchanged.

While the yield on US 10-year Treasuries was rising 5.0 basis points to 3.952%, Bitcoin was up 1.1% to $19,363.

After the bank holding company overnight announced a $50 million public offering of 2.5 million shares priced at $20 apiece, or $9% beneath Wednesday's closing price, Business First Bancshares fell 2.1%.

The home and auto insurer reported a Q3 profit of $0.20 per share, up $0.01 per share over year-ago levels but still falling short of the Capital IQ average expecting for $1.20 per share. Progressive was up 1%, recovering a more than 9% decline earlier on Thursday. In addition to falling short of the $13.40 billion analyst mean, net premiums written grew 4.6% to $13.02 billion.

After Lottomatica and Nuvei announced a new agreement on Thursday, Nuvei saw a 1.4% increase. The agreement calls for Nuvei to help Lottomatica replatform its digital services. Financial parameters and other specifics of the arrangement were kept confidential.

After Apple, Goldman Sachs increased by 4%. Customers will soon be able to open a Goldman high-yield savings account and have their cash incentives from using the Apple Cards and Apple Wallet applications automatically deposited into the account.