08:57 AM EDT, 03/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were declining premarket Thursday, with the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) down 0.8%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 2.1% lower, and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was up 2.3%.

HSBC ( HSBC ) is planning deep job cuts over the coming years as artificial intelligence is expected to trim the British lender's middle and back offices, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Shares of HSBC Holdings ( HSBC ) were down more than 2% pre-bell.