Financial stocks were mostly higher pre-bell Thursday, with the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) up 0.03%.
The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) gained by 0.6%, and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was also modestly higher.
Barclays (BCS) shares traded up past 2% after the company said that the projected capital ratios for its US business remained above the regulatory minimum levels across all nine quarters of the Federal Reserve's stress test.