Sector Update: Financial

09:05 AM EDT, 09/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were rising premarket Friday, with the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advancing by 0.4%. The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.8% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.9% lower. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial's (SMFG) Sumitomo Mitsui Banking unit is in advanced talks to increase its stake in VPBank, a Vietnamese private lender, Reuters reported, citing four people familiar with the negotiations. Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial were up more than 3% pre-bell.