01:54 PM EDT, 06/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose in Thursday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index adding 0.3% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) up 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index fell 1%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) eased 0.1%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped 0.7% to $64,720, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 3.9 basis points to 4.256%.

In economic news, US initial jobless claims last week declined to 238,000 from an upwardly revised 243,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for 235,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Separately, May housing starts fell 5.5% from the previous month to a 1.277 million annual rate, compared with expectations compiled by Bloomberg for a 1.37 million rate after an increase to a 1.352 million pace in April.

In other news, the US Supreme Court upheld a 2017 tax on US-owned businesses' foreign profits by a 7-2 vote. Known as the Mandatory Repatriation Tax, the tax imposed a rate of 8% to 15.5% on the pro rata shares of American shareholders.

In corporate news, Carlyle (CG) and KKR (KKR) are the top bidders for Discover Financial Services' ( DFS ) $10 billion US student loan portfolio, the Financial Times reported. Carlyle shares rose 1.9%, KKR fell 0.7%, and Discover climbed 0.3%.

Citigroup's ( C ) Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG unit was fined 13 million euros ($13.9 million) by Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority over issues with its trading systems in 2022 that led to a market disruption, the regulator said. Citigroup ( C ) shares fell 0.3%.

Banco Santander (SAN) is again asking its investment bankers working at its headquarters in Madrid to remove unauthorized messaging software from company-issued devices, Bloomberg reported. Santander shares fell 0.4%.