01:31 PM EDT, 05/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks advanced in Friday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.5% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) up 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) were both little changed.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 2.7% to $66,979, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries gained 4 basis points to 4.42%.

In economic news, the Conference Board's measure of leading indicators fell 0.6% in April, below expectations for a 0.3% decrease in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:50 am ET and following a 0.3% decrease in March.

In corporate news, Blackstone (BX) and Magnetar are leading a $7.5 billion debt financing facility for closely held artificial intelligence hyperscaler CoreWeave, supporting the development of critical infrastructure key to AI adoption. Blackstone shares fell 2.3%.