08:55 AM EDT, 03/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Financial stocks were slightly lower pre-bell Monday as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was recently down 0.2%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 0.6% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.8% higher.

Walmart (WMT) is making Klarna the exclusive provider of its buy now, pay later loans, a big win for the Swedish fintech over its rival Affirm (AFRM), CNBC reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation. Affirm Holdings ( AFRM ) shares declined by more than 6% premarket.