Financial stocks were decreasing in Thursday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index shedding 0.6% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) down 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was fractionally higher, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was decreasing 0.6%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was increasing 0.9% to $119,743, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was declining 2 basis points to 4.08%.

In sector news, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), TD Bank (TD), Deutsche Bank (DB), and FirstBank Puerto Rico (FBP) may receive congressional subpoenas to hand over documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's banking and investment activities before his 2019 death, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In economic news, US employers announced plans to cut 54,064 jobs in September, down from 85,979 in August and below year-ago levels, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The weekly jobless claims bulletin, originally scheduled for an 8:30 am ET release, wasn't reported as the partial shutdown of the federal government entered its second day.

In corporate news, shares of US credit bureau companies fell Thursday after Fair Isaac (FICO) announced a new program allowing mortgage brokers and resellers to calculate and distribute credit scores directly to consumers. FICO shares jumped 20%. Shares of Equifax (EFX) and TransUnion (TRU) were down 8% and 10%.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is expected to be hired by Kuwait Petroleum to help the state-owned oil and gas company lease part of its pipeline network, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan shares were shedding 1.2%.

Citigroup (C) has signed Eric Trump as a client, setting up a trust that holds some of US President Donald Trump's money, Bloomberg reported. Citi shares were down 1.8%.