Financial stocks were lower in Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each shedding 0.6%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was falling 1.6%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was down 0.2%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was decreasing 0.2% to $63,628, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was shedding 2.4 basis points to 4.545%.

In economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 54.4 in July from 49.5 in June, above expectations for a smaller gain to 51.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In regulatory news, the Securities and Exchange Commission has received more than 200,000 public comments on Chairman Paul Atkins' proposal to allow companies to report earnings twice a year rather than quarterly, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In corporate news, Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) on Friday reported a steeper-than-expected drop in Q2 profit year over year, while Regions Financial's (RF) revenue fell short of Wall Street's estimates. Fifth Third shares fell 2.3%, and Regions was down 1.9%.

Travelers' (TRV) Q2 earnings unexpectedly increased year over year, while the property and casualty insurer's written premiums came in ahead of market estimates. Its shares jumped 8.1%.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has been approached by more than 100 companies to explore the US lender's banking and payment services to set up corporate treasury operations at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, known as GIFT City, in India, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan shares were up 0.1%.