Financial stocks were rising in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index adding 1% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) climbing 1.5%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was down 0.3%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was advancing 0.7%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 0.7% to $84,692, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was rising 3.8 basis points to 4.30%.

In economic news, US initial jobless claims rose to 242,000 in the week ended Feb. 22 from an upwardly revised 220,000 in the previous week, beating forecasts for 221,000 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

US pending home sales fell by 4.6% in January, below the 0.9% drop expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a 4.1% decrease in December, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In corporate news, Apollo Global Management (APO) is in talks to lead a $35 billion financing package to help Meta (META) develop US-based data centers, Bloomberg reported. Apollo shares rose 1.5%.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has eliminated a section titled "diversity and inclusion" from its 2024 annual filing released Thursday. Goldman shares were up 0.3%.

HSBC (HSBC) is cutting around 900 jobs at its digital wealth unit Pinnacle in China, reducing nearly half of its workforce, Reuters reported. HSBC shares added 0.2%.