The largest exchange-traded fund to track the financial sector jumped on Thursday, extending a recent upswing for the fund. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF, +1.75% rose 1.8% and was on track for its biggest one-day percentage gain since March 26. The ETF has risen in nine of the past 13 sessions, according to FactSet data, a move that was nearly enough to return it to positive territory for the year. The fund remains down less than 0.1% for 2018. Financial stocks were the biggest gainers on the day on Thursday, a session when stocks rose broadly on signs that geopolitical tensions were fading. The sector was also supported by strong results at BlackRock Inc. BLK, +1.47% which rose 2.5%. BlackRock's results will be followed by releases by other major financial firms like JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +2.49% in coming sessions. Shares of JPMorgan rose 2.4% while Citigroup Inc. C, +3.21% was up 2.5% and Bank of America BAC, +2.51% rose 2.3%. Goldman Sachs GS, +2.63% was up 2.5% while Morgan Stanley MS, +2.10% rose 2%. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF KBE, +1.77% rose 1.7% on the day while the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE, +1.83% was up 1.7%. The healthy advance for financial firms also comes as the yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.68% rose to 2.82% from 2.79% on Wednesday, following minutes from the Federal Reserve that implied that it was on a path of aggressive monetary tightening. Rising yields tend to be bullish for banks's business models. Bond prices and yields move inversely. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.21% rose 1.3% while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.83% was up 1% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.01% was up 1.2%.