SoFi, Upstart top week's financial gainers, while insurers slip the most

This week's winners among financial stocks were led by two fintech firms, one cryptocurrency exchange, one regional bank and one property & casualty insurer, while the five stocks the fell the most featured a mix of insurers and reinsurers.

Overall, financial stocks closed out the holiday-shortened week ended June 2 with solid gains, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) climbing 2.2% and outpacing the stock market's 1.8% advance.

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI), known for refinancing student loans, rose the most of any financial stock (with market cap over $2B) during the week, +34.9%, as investors cheered a provision in the U.S. debt ceiling package that sets a definitive end for the pause on the repayments of federal student loans;

Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST), which provides lending platforms for banks and other financial institutions, jumped 24.6% in the wake of a broader rally among fintechs;

Even with the price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) slipping, crypto exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) accelerated 13.5% as Atlantic Equities upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral;

Montana-based Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) gapped up 11.9%; and

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) gained 11.8% after attracting an analyst upgrade on the P&C insurer's "compelling growth outlook."

On the other side of the fence, reinsurers Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE), -4.7%, and RenaissanceRe Holdings (NYSE:RNR), -2.2%, experienced the biggest, albeit relatively soft, losses. That was followed by insurers Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL), -2%, Unum Group (NYSE:UNM), -1.5%, and Assurant (NYSE:AIZ), -1.4%.

SA contributor The Asian Investor laid out a Strong Buy recommendation for SOFI, calling it a short squeeze candidate.