09:18 AM EST, 03/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were declining premarket Friday, with The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) down 0.4%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was 0.6% lower and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 1.7% higher.

Velocity Financial ( VEL ) shares were up over 1% after the company reported higher Q4 core earnings and net revenue.

Nasdaq (NDAQ) has been engaging with regulators, market participants and other stakeholders about enabling 24-hour trading five days per week on the Nasdaq Stock Market, President Tal Cohen said in a post on LinkedIn. Nasdaq shares were 0.2% lower pre-bell.

Blackstone (BX) said it has closed its Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies V fund, which has about $8 billion of total capital commitments. Blackstone shares were down 0.1% premarket.