Financial stocks were rising in Tuesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) each increasing 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was climbing 1.3%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) was shedding 0.3%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was declining 0.7% to $63,468, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was decreasing 1.5 basis points to 4.684%.

In economic news, the pace of US existing home sales fell by 1.7% to a 4.06 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in July from 4.13 million in June, compared with a larger expected decrease to a 4.05 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors released Tuesday showed.

In corporate news, Apollo Global Management's (APO) Apollo Sports Capital has reached a $2.6 billion financing deal with Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company of the New York Yankees, Apollo said Tuesday. As part of the deal, Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis will join YGE's board, the company said. Apollo shares jumped past 6%.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has started a US investment-grade bond sale in as many as five parts two weeks after announcing a $6 billion deal to acquire MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX), Bloomberg reported. Intercontinental Exchange shares increased 0.3%.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) and Royal Bank of Canada agreed to sell jointly owned Moneris Solutions to Francisco Partners for about CA$2 billion ($1.44 billion) in cash, with BMO entitled to 50% of the proceeds, the company said. Bank of Montreal shares added 0.2%.