Financial Stocks Dip as Bitcoin and Banks React to Tuesday Afternoon News
Financial stocks retreated on Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index falling 0.8% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) down 1%. The Philadelphia Housing Index dropped 2%, while the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) rose 0.5%. Bitcoin's price was also affected, declining 0.6% to $78,664.
Corporate news saw WaFd agreeing to combine with EverBank Financial in a reverse merger deal worth $3.9 billion. This led to WaFd shares decreasing by 5.6%. Robinhood, on the other hand, entered into a multi-year partnership with OG.com, designating it as an infrastructure and clearing provider for its Prediction Markets offering. The move resulted in Robinhood's stock price dropping 1.2%.
M&T Bank received a boost from Morgan Stanley, which upgraded its rating to overweight from equal-weight and raised the price target to $304 from $253. This led to M&T Bank shares increasing by 0.1%. The firm also estimated that M&T Bank would repurchase approximately $2.9 billion of stock in 2027, exceeding the current consensus estimate of $1.7 billion.