03:31 PM EDT, 05/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks rose in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) each adding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index increased 0.3%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was fractionally up.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 2.2% to $66,890, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries gained 4.7 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 Bloomberg survey, and following a 0.3% decrease in March.

In corporate news, Saba Capital detailed its plans to push for change at 10 closed-end BlackRock ( BLK ) funds that trade at a steep discount to the value of their underlying assets relative to their peers, CNBC reported Friday. BlackRock ( BLK ) shares were rising 0.6%.