Financial Sector Update for 01/20/2023: BTB, ALLY, STT, SLF, SLF.TO

Financial stocks were ending higher in Friday trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both rising around 1.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index also was climbing 2.1% and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was gaining 1.2% after data showed existing home sales fell by 1.5% to an annualized pace of 4.02 million homes during December, falling for the 11th month in a row, compared Wall Street expectations for a 3.2% drop last month.

Bitcoin was increasing 5.2% to $22,202, while the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was climbing 8.7 basis points to 3.484%.