Financial stocks were advancing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index up 0.1% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) adding 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was down 0.5%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) eased 0.2%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 4.4% to $111,727, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries dropped 5 basis points to 4.55%.

In economic news, US initial jobless claims fell to 227,000 in the week ended May 17 from 229,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for an increase to 230,000 in surveys of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

The pace of existing home sales slowed 0.5% to a 4 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in April from 4.02 million in March, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The consensus was for 4.10 million in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

The May flash reading of manufacturing conditions from S&P Global rose to a three-month high of 52.3, from 50.2 in April, compared with the 49.9 estimate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In sector news, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken plans to allow non-US customers to trade popular stocks like Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) as tokens over a digital ledger, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

In corporate news, the Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division have filed a joint Statement of Interest in support of a multistate antitrust lawsuit against BlackRock (BLK), State Street (STT), and Vanguard, the agencies said Thursday. BlackRock shares were fractionally lower, and State Street was up 0.8%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) said Thursday it initiated a new restructuring program in Q2 that includes a 2% reduction in its workforce. Its shares jumped nearly 4%.

Deutsche Bank (DB) will pause a plan to add new restrictions on financing oil and gas firms as it evaluates legal risks, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing Chief Executive Christian Sewing. Deutsche shares added 0.4%.