01:29 PM EST, 12/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks advanced in Friday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both climbing 1.7%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index rose 1.2%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) jumped 2.4%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 0.8% to $96,822, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries dropped 6.4 basis points to 4.506%.

In economic news, the headline PCE price index grew 0.1% in November versus a 0.2% increase in October. Year over year, inflation climbed to 2.4% from 2.3%. Wall Street was expecting 0.2% sequential and 2.5% annualized. The Fed's preferred core measure, which excludes food and energy, was flat at 2.8% annually but eased to 0.1% from 0.3% sequentially. The market predicted 2.9% and 0.2% growth, respectively.

In corporate news, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it was suing the operator of Zelle, Early Warning Services, and Bank of America ( BAC ) , JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) for allegedly failing to protect consumers from fraud on the Zelle payment network. Bank of America ( BAC ) shares rose 1.8%, JPMorgan ( JPM ) gained 2.2% and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) added 2.2%.