03:45 PM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were higher in late Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index up 0.5% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) rising 0.6%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index climbed 1.3%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) gained 2.2%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was rising 1.8% to $62,281, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries fell 4 basis points to 4.45%.

In economic news, the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims advanced by 22,000 to 231,000 in the week ended May 4, the US Department of Labor said. This marked the highest level since the week ended Aug. 26. The consensus was for a 212,000 level in a Bloomberg survey.

In corporate news, HSBC ( HSBC ) and Standard Chartered are among the banks urging UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government to ease proposed restrictions on doing business with China, Bloomberg reported. HSBC ( HSBC ) shares were shedding 0.8%.

Barclays ( JJCTF ) Chief Executive Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan said Thursday that recent gains in the bank's share prices are "early evidence" that investors back a strategy unveiled in February to boost investments in the UK, among other initiatives, Bloomberg reported. The bank's shares were rising 0.6%.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ( BBVA ) is appealing directly to Banco de Sabadell shareholders with its 12-billion euro ($12.9 billion) takeover bid after the Sabadell board recently rejected the offer, saying the deal "significantly undervalues" the Spanish lender. BBVA shares were down 6.7%.

Brookfield (BN) reported Q1 distributable earnings Thursday of $0.77 per share, up from $0.72 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $0.72. Its shares added 0.3%.