By Greg Morcroft NEW YORK (MarketWatch) U.S. financial stocks rose on Friday as indications of a stabilizing Greek debt crisis helped lift banks, but in a blast from the past shares of the rating agencies fell as word came that the SEC is investigating their behavior during the mortgage boom. U.S. banks rose on the heels of a more than 5% jump in Greek stocks. "The risk of contagion is also dropping sharply with banks in Europe and likely then in the U.S. rallying," a report from French firm Societe Generale said on Friday. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF +0.68% , which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500, added just over 1%. The financials in the Dow Jones Industrial Average were also mostly higher. Credit rating agencies and related firms fell on Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission's probe into mortgage bond deals in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis has widened to major credit-rating firms, according to a published report Friday. Credit-rating agencies rated pools of subprime mortgages and other debt instruments, and played a crucial role in the creation of collateralized debt obligations. Standard & Poor's, owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. MHP -2.34% and Moody's Investors Service MCO -4.13% are under review, said the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

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