03:47 PM EDT, 04/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose in late Thursday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index up 0.3% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) adding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index eased 0.1%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was little changed.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) climbed 3.8% to $63,325, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 6.2 basis points to 4.647%.

In economic news, the seasonally adjusted number of initial jobless claims remained flat at 212,000 during the week ended April 13, the US Department of Labor said Thursday. The consensus was for 215,000 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rose to 15.5 in April after slipping to 3.2 in March, compared with expectations for a drop to 2 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The pace of US existing home sales declined 4.3% to a 4.19 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in March from 4.38 million in February, data from the National Association of Realtors showed. The expectation in a survey compiled by Bloomberg was for 4.2 million.

In corporate news, UBS (UBS) is shutting down up to 17 of its China equity and bond private funds and will soon start laying off about a third of staff at its UBS Asset Management Shanghai unit, Reuters reported Thursday. UBS shares rose 0.1%.

Equifax's ( EFX ) shares tumbled 9.2% after Q1 sales missed expectations and the full-year forecast also trailed consensus.

Blackstone (BX) reported Q1 distributable earnings of $0.98 per share, up from $0.97 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $0.97. Its shares dropped 2.3%.

Marsh & McLennan ( MMC ) reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $2.89 per diluted share, up from $2.53 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $2.80. The company's shares gained 2.1%.