Daniel Grizelj
This week’s biggest gainer among financial stocks was a cryptocurrency miner, while a property and casualty insurer fell the most.
Financial stocks, overall, closed out the week ended April 26 higher, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) up 1.1%, outpaced by the S&P 500’s 2.7% gain.
For the winners, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), which is in the business of mining bitcoin (BTC-USD), saw its shares surge 30.7% this past week, even though the price of bitcoin recorded a marginal rise;
Hong Kong-based fintech company Futu Holdings (NASDAQ:FUTU) took the second slot, jumping 21.2%;
South Korean bank KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB), which during the week posted Q1 results, drove up 18.2%;
Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA), a fellow bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner, ascended 17.8%; and
Rounding out the five biggest winners, Global Life (NYSE:GL) gapped up 13.5% as the insurer delivered Q1 earnings that fell slightly short of the average analyst estimate.
On the negative side, specialty insurance company Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) took the lead, dropping 17.1%, even after turning in better-than-forecast Q1 results;
Pawn store operator FirstCash Holdings (NASDAQ:FCFS), which during the week posted mixed Q1 results, slid 11.3%;
Aon (NYSE:AON) slumped 8.1% after the insurance broker and provider of risk services posted weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue;
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CINF), another insurer, retreated 7.6% on the back of above-consensus Q1 profit and sales; and
Federated Hermes (NYSE:FHI) dipped 7.1% as its Q1 revenue trailed Wall Street expectations.