09:16 AM EDT, 06/04/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were edging higher pre-bell Thursday, with the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advancing by 1.2%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 3.5% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 3.2% lower.

Blackstone's (BX) Blackstone Private Credit Fund said repurchase requests equaled about 10% of shares outstanding in Q2, but it will fulfill requests representing just 5% of its value, according to media reports. Shares of Blackstone were up more than 1% premarket.

Bank of America ( BAC ) is hiring Anshul Gupta from Avendus Capital to lead its investment banking operations in India, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Bank of America ( BAC ) stock was up more than 1% pre-bell.

Brown-Forman (BF.A, BF.B) shares were down more than 1% after the company reported a decline in fiscal Q4 earnings.