09:00 AM EDT, 05/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing pre-bell Friday as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was up 0.2% recently.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 0.2% higher and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was down 0.6%.

KKR (KKR) is set to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval to acquire Telecom Italia's fixed-line network in a 22-billion-euro ($23.85 billion) deal once it agrees to maintain existing commercial contracts with Telecom Italia competitors, Reuters reported, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the matter. KKR was up 0.9% premarket.