09:19 AM EDT, 04/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were advancing premarket Monday as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) was 0.2% higher recently.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was up 0.6% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 0.4% lower.

The European Commission has approved Truist Financial's ( TFC ) deal to sell its remaining stake in its Truist Insurance unit to an investor group led by private equity firms Stone Point Capital and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Truist Financial ( TFC ) was up 0.1% pre-bell.

Blackstone (BX) was 0.5% higher after saying it signed a deal for Blackstone Real Estate Partners X to acquire and take Apartment Income REIT ( AIRC ) private for a total of around $10 billion in cash.