Financial stocks were decreasing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) each easing 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was falling 1.3%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was down 0.5%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was falling 1.7% to $112,351, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was rising 3 basis points to 4.33%.

In economic news, the August flash reading of US manufacturing conditions from S&P Global rose to 53.3 from 49.8 in July, compared with an expected reading of 49.7 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The pace of US existing home sales rose by 2% to a 4.01 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in July from 3.93 million in June, compared with an expected decrease to a 3.92 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday showed.

For the week ended Aug. 16, US initial jobless claims increased to 235,000 from the previous week's unrevised reading of 224,000, according to the Department of Labor. The consensus was for a smaller gain to a level of 225,000 in a Bloomberg poll.

In corporate news, Blue Owl Capital (OWL) is looking to raise about $1.5 billion through the sale of a portfolio of minority stakes in private asset managers, Bloomberg reported. Blue Owl shares were easing slightly.

Blackstone (BX) said Thursday that private equity funds affiliated with the company have agreed to buy electrical system maintenance provider Shermco for about $1.6 billion from Gryphon Investors. Blackstone shares were down 0.5%.

KKR (KKR) is the top contender to buy Nissan Motor's Yokohama headquarters in Japan with a bid of about 90 billion yen ($608.7 million), Reuters reported. KKR shares were shedding 0.5%.