01:40 PM EDT, 05/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks advanced in Thursday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.4% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) up 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index gained 0.6%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) climbed 1.1%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) increased 0.4% to $103,978, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries fell 8.7 basis points to 4.441%.

In economic news, US producer prices fell 0.5% in April, following a revised flat reading in March and versus market expectations of a 0.2% increase, according to a report from Trading Economics. The decline was the first since October 2023 and the sharpest since April 2020 in the early aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Retail sales rose 0.1% in April following an upwardly revised 1.7% gain in March, data from the Census Bureau showed. The consensus compiled by Bloomberg was for no change.

US initial jobless claims last week held steady at 229,000, compared with expectations for 228,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Chubb ( CB ) stock rose 2.7%. The company approved a new $5 billion share buyback program starting July 1 and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.97 a share from $0.91.