Financial Stocks Rally as Bitcoin Surges Amid Strong US Inflation Data

Financial stocks surged on Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.9% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) up 0.6%. The Philadelphia Housing Index climbed 1.5%, while the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) added 1.1%. Bitcoin's price jumped 1.7% to $77,833.

The US consumer price index increased by 0.4% month on month, the fastest pace since May and above July's 0.1% gain. Core inflation rose to a four-month high of 0.3%, exceeding market projections for an unchanged 0.2% growth.

KKR (KKR) and Francisco Partners agreed to buy minority stakes in Italian software company TeamSystem from its main investor Hellman & Friedman. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) warehouses could receive huge volumes of arabica coffee from Brazil, with two trade majors processing the certification of their stocks.

Blackstone (BX) intends to purchase many more tensor processing units from Alphabet's (GOOGL) unit Google than initially outlined. The private equity and real estate giant's spending on TPUs could be several 'multiples' beyond the $5 billion it announced under a joint venture with Google in May.