08:50 AM EDT, 07/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were edging higher pre-bell Wednesday as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was recently up 0.6%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 1.9% higher and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was down 1.7%.

HSBC Holdings ( HSBC ) shares rose past 3% after it reported Q2 earnings of $0.35 per diluted share, up from $0.34 a year earlier.