01:39 PM EDT, 07/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing in Wednesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.7% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) ahead 0.9%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was up 0.3%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was up 0.3%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was 0.6% higher at $65,064, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was decreasing 3.6 basis points to 4.55%.

In economic news, the US Producer Price Index fell by 0.3% in June following a 0.6% increase in May, below expectations for a flat reading in a Bloomberg survey. Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI rose 0.2%, slower than the 0.3% gain expected and a 0.1% rise in May.

In corporate news, Stripe and Advent International have offered to acquire PayPal ( PYPL ) for $60.50 per share in a deal that would value the company at more than $53 billion, Reuters reported. PayPal ( PYPL ) shares jumped more than 16%.

Blackstone (BX), Anthropic and Hellman & Friedman said Wednesday they are launching AI services firm Ode with Anthropic. Blackstone shares climbed 2.9%.

Morgan Stanley's ( MS ) Q2 revenue surpassed Wall Street's projections, with robust investment banking and trading gains driving the top-line higher year on year. Shares added 0.4%.