Sector Update: Financial Stocks Softer Late Afternoon

03:57 PM EDT, 09/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks declined in late Wednesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index shedding 0.7% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) decreasing 0.4%. The Philadelphia Housing Index fell 1.8% and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) lost 1.3%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 2.1% to $84,537, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries jumped 14.1 basis points to 5.11%. In economic news, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr called for further interest rate increases to combat sticky inflation. Barr said "further policy adjustments" will likely be needed to ensure inflation comes down to the 2% target in a timely fashion. Last week, the Fed delivered its first rate hike in just over three years. Markets are now pricing in a 71% probability that the Fed will lift interest rates again by 25 basis points in October, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That's up from 55% on Tuesday. The September flash reading of manufacturing conditions from S&P Global rose to a 52-month high of 57 from 53.9 in August, and compared with 53.7 in a Bloomberg survey. US mortgage applications fell 1.5% for the week ending Sept. 18, compared with a decline of 4.1% in the week prior, as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate increased to 7.12% from 6.97% over the same period. In corporate news, BlackRock (BLK) is directing more money into large-cap stocks in the US and is shifting some of its AI exposure from industry pioneers toward later adopters, Bloomberg reported, citing an investment outlook. BlackRock shares were down 0.4%. Blue Owl Capital (OWL) could see its junior loan to Loparex wiped out as Monarch Alternative Capital and General Atlantic lead a roughly $1 billion restructuring that will see them own a majority of the business, Bloomberg reported. Blue Owl shares were falling 2.7%. A Morgan Stanley (MS) employee accidentally leaked an internal list of more than 100 investment-banking deals the firm is monitoring and pitching in Asia, Bloomberg reported. Morgan Stanley shares were shedding 1%. Brookfield (BN) is nearing a deal to buy financial crime and compliance specialist Actimize from NICE (NICE) for $2 billion, Sky News reported. Brookfield shares were down 1.7%.