Financials Up On Rate Views -- Financials Roundup

Banks, lenders and other financial companies rose as traders bet the sector would benefit from rising interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve's dot plot indicates that bankers plan to raise rates three times next year, the plan is notoriously subject to change. Many market participants take the view that "'I'll believe it when I see it that they raise rates,'" said Jeffrey Pavlik, founder of hedge fund firm Pavlik Capital Management. "Clearly financials--they've had the benefit of people thinking the Fed are going to raise rates...but it kind of hasn't followed through. People start thinking rates are going higher and they just don't. The 10-year yield is still at 2.37% every time it gets above 2.40 it stops."

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told The Wall Street Journal that he's concerned his Fed colleagues could push the U.S. into recession if they continue to raise rates.

One of China's biggest deal makers, HNA Group, is looking to sell a large portfolio of commercial properties in New York, London and other major cities after a multiyear buying spree, The Wall Street Journal reported.

LogFin rose more than threefold as the financial technology company benefited from its recent acquisition of a "blockchain" company associated with crypto currencies. The value of crypto currencies such as bitcoin have skyrocketed in recent weeks in what some analysts say is shaping up to be a historic speculative bubble.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2017 16:46 ET (21:46 GMT)