Top Financial Stocks
JPM +2.22%
BAC +2.00%
WFC +0.94%
C -0.87%
USB +0.75%
Most financial stocks were climbing in afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 1.6% while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF was posting a 1.3% advance. The Philadelphia Housing Index was sinking 1.6%.
Among financial stocks moving on news:
(+) CIT Group (CIT) climbed 3.5% after the commercial lender Thursday said it provided the financing for Aria Designs that the North Carolina-based furniture-maker used to buy more than 5 million N95 surgical masks it is giving to frontline medical personnel throughout the state responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first masks are expected to arrive in the coming days, CIT said.
In other sector news:
(+) Brown & Brown (BRO) rose 1.9% after the insurance company said it acquired substantially all of North Carolina-based Sterling Group through its dealer services subsidiary. Financial terms were not disclosed.
(-) Lamar Advertising (LAMR) fell 9.2% after the real estate investment trust Thursday slashed its FY20 capital budget, saying it expects to spend around $58 million this year compared with its prior $130 million forecast. The outdoor billboard company also is pausing its acquisition activity and started a hiring freeze as advertising suffers from shelter-in-place orders in most states. Lamar also said it was reviewing its dividend payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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