Financials Up After Strong Earnings -- Financials Roundup

Banks, lenders and other financial companies rose as traders digested a generally strong round of earnings.

Shares of consumer lender Synchrony Financial rose after it reported earnings ahead of Wall Street targets.

Wealth adviser and insurer Lincoln Financial Group agreed to buy Liberty Life Assurance of Boston from Liberty Mutual Insurance Group for $3.3 billion, acquiring its group-benefits business and a book of individual life and annuity business.

The Federal Reserve's supervision chief, Randal Quarles, detailed a deregulatory agenda that would adjust thresholds determining capital and liquidity levels at banks, as well as other types of oversight.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit a three-year high earlier this week, and investors are watching closely to see if it breaks out of its range, according to one strategist. "The beneficiaries of this higher yield are the financials to the detriment of the utilities and the REITs," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at insurance and investment firm Prudential Financial.

-- Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2018 16:36 ET (21:36 GMT)