Afternoon Market Update

The financial sector gained again to lead the US stocks after the Labor Department reported upbeat data on initial jobless claims. Shares of Bank of America Corp BAC and Morgan Stanley MS moved up more than 3%. Shares of regional banks rose on rumors of their acquisition by the larger banks. Marshall & Ilsley Corp MI and Zions Bancorp ZION climbed more than 4%. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) rose about 1.88%. Crude oil futures gained after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report indicated a higher-than-expected decline in oil inventories for the latest week ended September 3. Crude oil inventories for the recent week moved down by 1.9 million barrels, higher than the expected decline of 730,000 barrels. Gasoline stocks decreased around 200,000 barrels in the previous week, less than the expected fall of 820,000 barrels. Oil gained about 1.1% at $75.46 per barrel. PPL Corp PPL has decided to sell its power plant assets in Wallingford and University Park, Ill. The company will also dispose its one-third share of a plant in Conestoga. PPL will sell its power plant assets for around $381 million to LS Power Equity Advisors. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.