Crypto-tied stocks top financial gainers for second straight week

One of the more notable developments this past week in the financials sector was the drop in short-dated U.S. Treasury yields after a parade of soft economic data and some dovish Fedspeak.

With market convinced that the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates, financial stocks (with market cap $2B+) closed out the week ended Dec. 1 in the green, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) advancing 2.2%, outpacing the S&P 500’s 0.8% increase.

Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST), the AI-driven lending platform, rose the most of any financial stock last week, surging 36.4%;

With bitcoin (BTC-USD) extending its rally to the highest level seen in over a year, cryptocurrency-linked stocks Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA), Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) jumped 20.1%, 15.8% and 14.6%, respectively; and

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) rounded out the top five winners with a 14.4% climb.

For the losers, Brazil-based bank Inter & Co (NASDAQ:INTR) took the lead, dropping 9.1%;

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL), a property and casualty insurer, slid 7.7%;

Futu Holdings (NASDAQ:FUTU), a Hong Kong-based fintech company, retreated 7.3%;

U.K. life and health insurer Prudential (NYSE:PUK) dipped 5%; and

Chinese credit-tech platform Qifu Technology (NASDAQ:QFIN) fell 4.9%.