sample
Three of this week’s five biggest financial gainers included non-US banks, as a basket of currencies strengthened against the US dollar, while two of the top five biggest decliners were bitcoin (BTC-USD) miners, as cryptocurrency prices they lost some of their purchases. momentum.
Overall, financial stocks (with a market capitalization above $2 billion) ended the holiday-shortened week ending Feb. 23 in the green, with the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (NYSEARCA: XLF) up 1.7%in line with the S&P 500 index Increase of 1.7%.. Of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 Index, financials were the fifth best performer of the week.
Banco Macro SA (NYSE:BMA), an Argentina-based lender, posted the biggest gain among all financial stocks last week, up 16.3%;
In second place, the specialized insurance company Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) gap up by 16.1%;
Barclays Plc (NYSE:BCS), which this week presented a three-year plan of buybacks and cost-cutting measures, jumped 15.3%;
Intercorp Financial Services of Peru (NYSE:IFS), which SA’s Catalyst Watch reported as one of the most overbought stocks based on its 14-day relative strength index, gained 10.7%; AND
Rounding out the five biggest winners, Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) accelerated by 9.9% after Capital One (COF) agreed to buy the credit card issuer in an all-stock deal worth $35.3 billion.
For the losers, bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) at the top of the list, sliding 11.2%as bitcoin took a breather from its bull run;
Emerging participations (NASDAQ:UPST), which provides an AI-powered lending platform for banks and credit unions, fell by 10.6%;
Fellow BTC miner Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), which during the week posted mixed results for the full year 2023, warehouse 10.2%;
F&G annuities and life (NYSE:FG), down 9.5%, fell after fourth-quarter earnings fell short of analysts’ average estimate; AND
Troubled regional lender New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYCB) retreated 8.3%bringing its year-to-date loss to 54.9%.