JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM:NYSE

Financial stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Financial Index down 0.3% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) sliding 0.7%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index was down 0.3% while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) fell 1.8%.

Mortgage applications rose by 3% in the week ended March 17 after a 6.5% increase in activity in the previous week, driven higher by a further decline in mortgage rates, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday.

Bitcoin was increasing 1.2% to about $28,643, while the yield for 10-year US Treasuries was falling 4 basis points to 3.566%.

In company news, First Republic Bank (FRC) dropped 4.1% after the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the bank tapped Lazard (LAZ) to help review its strategic options after the failure of two other banks had spooked its depositors.

UBS Group (UBS) fell 3.5% after reporting that it offered to buy back 2.75 billion euros ($2.96 billion) of outstanding senior unsecured bail-in notes.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) slid 1.1% after saying it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aumni, a provider of investment analytics software to venture capital companies.