09:03 AM EDT, 03/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were edging higher pre-bell Friday, with the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advancing by 0.6%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 1.6% higher and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was down 1.8%.

Brookfield Asset Management ( BAM ) is seeking a loan of about $800 million to support its proposed acquisition of air cargo specialist World Freight, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Brookfield Asset Management ( BAM ) stock was up more than 1% premarket.