Financial stocks edged higher premarket Tuesday with the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) recently up 0.3%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.7% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.6% lower.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) shares rose nearly 3% after the company reported higher fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) shares were up 0.4% after the company reported higher fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

KKR (KKR) is among the buyout firms interested in acquiring a stake in Starbucks' (SBUX) China business, Reuters reported, citing four unnamed sources. KKR shares were 0.2% higher pre-bell. Starbucks' shares were down 0.3%.