Sector Update: Financial Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

Financial stocks were lower in Friday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both falling 1%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index dropped 1.3%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) shed 0.8%.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) fell 1.3% to $94,537, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 3.2 basis points to 4.611%.

In economic news, data released by the US Census Bureau showed the US advance international trade in goods deficit widened to $102.86 billion in November from $98.26 billion in October, a bigger gap than the $101.2 billion deficit expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Brookfield Asset Management and co-investors bought a 53% stake in French renewables developer Neoen for 39.85 euros ($41.53) a share, Bloomberg reported. Brookfield shares fell 1.8%.

LM Funding America shares popped 3% after it said Friday it has ordered 270 S21+ mining machines from Bitmain.

KeyCorp shares shed 0.9% after it said Friday that the Bank of Nova Scotia closed the purchase of about $2 billion of KeyCorp's common shares. Bank of Nova Scotia shares fell 0.2%.

Financial stocks declined in Friday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both falling 1%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index dropped 1.3%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) shed 0.8%.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) declined 1.3% to $94,537, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 3.2 basis points to 4.611%.

In economic news, data released by the US Census Bureau showed the US advance international trade in goods deficit widened to $102.86 billion in November from $98.26 billion in October, a bigger gap than the $101.2 billion deficit expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Brookfield Asset Management and co-investors bought a 53% stake in French renewables developer Neoen for 39.85 euros ($41.53) a share, Bloomberg reported. Brookfield shares fell 1.8%.

180 Life Sciences priced a $2.9 million at-the-market direct offering of stock and warrants and a concurrent private placement, the biotechnology company said on Friday. 180 Life Science issued 1.2 million shares priced at $2.41 apiece along an equal number of warrants exercisable anytime over the next 66 months at $2.28 per share.

180 Life Sciences recently were down by 21%, recovering modestly from a 27% decline earlier in Friday's session. Around 392,000 shares have traded so far on Friday compared with a daily average of more than 2.3 million shares.

Brookfield Asset Management and co-investors reportedly have purchased a 53% stake in French renewables developer Neoen, paying 39.85 euros ($41.53) per share. Brookfield and its partners now expect to begin a tender offer to acquire the remaining shares in Neoen, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.

Brookfield Asset Management shares recently were down by nearly 2%, staying close to their intra-day low of $54.17 apiece. Trading volume was light, with around 200,000 shares exchanged compared with a daily average of over 992,000 shares per day.

KeyCorp said on Friday that Bank of Nova Scotia now owns about 15% of the bank's common stock following a $2 billion stock sale with the Canadian banking company.

KeyCorp shares recently were down about 1%. Investors have exchanged more than 2.3 million Keycorp shares compared with an average of 9.4 million shares daily.

By Robb M. Stewart

Shares on Canada's main exchange were lower Friday, though the market was on track for a modest gain in a holiday-shortened week.

In midday trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 0.5% lower at 24716.33, as technology and mining stocks weighed. That has the index set for a gain this week of 0.5%.

The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was down 0.5% at 1482.45.

Constellation Software was among the biggest drags on the Toronto market, falling 1.1% to C$4,497.31.

Among mining stocks, B2Gold was 1.3% lower at C$3.54 and Hudbay Minerals lost 1.1% to C$11.74.

The major banks were mixed, with Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia each up 0.5% but Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 0.8% weaker and National Bank of Canada down 0.5%. Scotiabank announced it completed a roughly $2 billion investment in KeyCorp, securing an almost 15% stake in the Ohio-based lender.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

All three major US stock indexes were down more than 1% in late-morning trading Friday, as the markets looked as though they would end Christmas week on a down note.

In company news, UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys extended the deadline for closing their $3.3 billion merger, as the US Department of Justice scrutinizes the deal, a Friday filing showed. Under a waiver agreement executed Thursday, the deadline was extended to 10 days after a final court decision is issued in the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department to block the proposed merger or on Dec. 31, 2025, whichever comes first, the filing showed. UnitedHealth shares were down 0.3%, while those of Amedisys were up 4.5% around midday.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is considering reorganizing itself to become a Delaware public benefit corporation in order to raise conventional capital while maintaining a nonprofit arm, the company said Thursday in a blogpost. OpenAI currently operates as both a nonprofit and for-profit entity, supported by investments from Microsoft and other companies, as well as from venture capitalists. Microsoft shares were down 2.0%.

Brookfield Asset Management and co-investors acquired a roughly 53% stake in French renewables developer Neoen for 39.85 euros ($41.53) per share, Bloomberg reported Friday. The group purchased the stake from shareholders and plans to launch a tender offer for the remaining shares at the same price in order to take the company private, the report said. Brookfield Asset Management shares were down 1.4%.

Nearly 65 million people across the US watched two NFL matchups on Christmas Day that were broadcast exclusively on Netflix , CNBC reported Friday, citing data from Nielsen. The viewership set records for the most streamed NFL games ever in the US, CNBC reported, citing Nielsen. Netflix shares were down 2.3%.

Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology said Friday that funding for semiconductors, AI and aerospace could drop by 20 billion Taiwanese dollars ($609.1 million) next year after opposition parties approved laws cutting economic and technology spending, Reuters reported. Shares of Micron Technology , Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were down 1.2%, 2.2%, 0.6% and 1.0%, respectively.

Arthur J. Gallagher said Friday it has acquired Murray Gardner Insurance Agency based in Tustin, Calif. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Shares of Gallagher were down 0.5%.

BioNTech (BNTX) has entered into two separate settlements with the US national Institutes of Health and the University of Pennsylvania over royalties on sales of the company's Covid-19 vaccine, separate filings showed Friday. Without admitting liability, the biotech company said it agreed to pay $791.5 million to the NIH and $467 million to the University of Pennsylvania, according to the filings. Shares of BioNTech were up 0.8%.

Bank of Nova Scotia said Friday that it completed its acquisition of an additional 10% pro-forma ownership stake in KeyCorp following regulatory approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Scotiabank secured the stake through newly issued common shares priced at US$17.17 apiece or US$2.0 billion in total.

In August, Scotiabank announced that it had agreed to acquire an approximately 14.9% pro-forma ownership stake in KeyCorp for total consideration of about US$2.8 billion. The bank previously closed the initial investment of 4.9% on Aug. 30 and has now completed both stages of the investment.

"Our investment in KeyCorp represents a cost-effective, low-risk approach to deploying capital into the U.S. while boosting returns for our shareholders," said Scott Thomson, Scotiabank's president and CEO. "We are pleased to have closed this transaction, which is consistent with our commitment to allocate capital from developing markets to developed markets in North America."

Scotiabank said the impact to common equity tier 1 ratio from both stages of the transaction is expected to be about -55 basis points.

The bank said its 14.9% ownership interest will be classified as an investment in associate for accounting purposes.