The largest exchange traded fund tracking the U.S. financial sector lost ground Thursday after Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) shares were halted by circuit breakers following a sharp 20% sell-off.
Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF) was down 0.6% in recent action.
Jefferies shares were briefly halted Thursday morning, although it wasn’t immediately clear what triggered the share plunge.
The stock pared the loss after trading resumed and was off 6% for the session. Jefferies in a press release said as of Aug. 31 it had “no meaningful net exposure to European sovereign debt.”