01:40 PM EDT, 06/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.4% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) up 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 1%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was adding 0.6%

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was declining 0.4% to $104,182, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was dropping 3 basis points to 4.37%.

In economic news, the Fed is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision at 2 pm ET, with Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:30 pm. Markets are widely expecting the Federal Open Market Committee to hold its key lending rate steady, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

US housing starts fell more than projected last month, driven by a sharp slump in multi-family projects, government data showed Wednesday. Housing starts tumbled 9.8% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.26 million units in May, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The consensus in a Bloomberg survey was for a 0.8% decline, based on an unrevised print for April.

In corporate news, Morgan Stanley ( MS ) is assigning a new designation of "founders specialist" to roughly 200 of its financial advisers to address the needs of clients with wealth concentrated in a private company, Bloomberg reported, citing Jed Finn, head of the firm's wealth management segment. Morgan Stanley ( MS ) shares rose 1.8%.