03:47 PM EDT, 07/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were narrowly mixed in Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index down 0.2% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) fractionally higher.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was shedding 0.6%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was up 0.1%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was declining 1.3% to $117,740, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was dropping 3 basis points to 4.43%.

In economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 61.8 in July from 60.7 in June, and was ahead of Bloomberg's consensus forecast of 61.5.

June housing starts increased 4.6% from May to an annualized rate of 1.321 million, topping Bloomberg estimates of 1.300 million. Building permits edged up 0.2% to 1.397 million, beating expectations and reversing the prior month's dip.

In corporate news, Invesco ( IVZ ) shares jumped 15% after the company said a unit filed a preliminary statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to reclassify its tech exchange-traded fund QQQ Trust Series 1 as an open-ended fund.

Ares Management ( ARES ) is launching a new media and entertainment fund aimed at individual investors, expanding access to sports-related investing, Bloomberg reported. Ares shares were fractionally lower.

JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) is broadening its research to include influential private companies like OpenAI to provide clients with structured information and tracking, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing a memo by Head of Global Research Hussein Malik. JPMorgan ( JPM ) shares added 0.5%.

Charles Schwab ( SCHW ) reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results, as the financial services provider added more than 1 million new brokerage accounts and saw a surge in trading revenue. Its shares added 2.5%.

Interactive Brokers ( IBKR ) shares jumped nearly 7% after it reported better-than-expected Q2 results.