Financial Winners & Losers: PMI Group

Buyers were jumping back into financial stocks after two straight days of losses Thursday and PMI Group (PMI Quote) was among the big gainers.

The mortgage insurer is selling its Australian subsidiary to the Aussie's largest insurance company QBE Insurance Group for roughly $920 million. The deal will allow PMI to strengthen its balance sheet and focus on its U.S. business. PMI has struggled due to high payouts as a result of defaulted mortgages and foreclosures and recently reported a second quarter loss. The stock has lost 89% of its value over the last 12 months, but was surging 49.5% on Thursday to $4.17.

The deal lifted similar companies even as the market digested more negative news. Ambac(ABK Quote) jumped 15.7% to $4.56 and MBIA(MBI Quote) was lifted 17.9% to $10.32. Radian(RDN Quote) benefited as well as it climbed 13.4% to $3.65. ...