Wall Street bears take the lead after three days of gains

• US stocks, first down day after three consecutive days of gains. 
• Financial stocks are up, led by higher US bond yields and American Express and Bank of New-York Mellon’s earnings.

US stocks had a pullback from recent gains on Thursday’s trading. The three main indices closed in the red but managed to hold above their 50-period simple moving average. The S&P 500 closed lower to 2,693 and lost 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% to 24,665.42 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.8% to 7,238. 

Nine out of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors ended lower on Thursday. The weakest sectors were the technology stocks and the consumer-staples sector. Staples were on the back foot as Philip Morris tanked not less than 16% on the day. Its earnings were above expectations but investors focused on the loss of market share in many of its brands. Almost the same story for Procter & Gamble which reported better-than-anticipated earnings but the market is concerned about the loss of market shares and the stock gapped down more than 4% this time. The technology stock’s pullback was mainly caused by the semiconductor sector.

On the bright side, financial stocks increased 1.5%, underpinned by an acceleration in the 10-year US Treasury Note's yield, as well strong earnings including American Express Co and Bank of New York Mellon. 

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assured President Trump last week that he is not a target of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation” as reported by Bloomberg. Giving the general market a slight boost towards the end of the day as it somewhat alleviates political uncertainties. 

S&P 500 Index daily chart

The trend is bullish. Resistances are seen at 2,718.75 and 2800 swing highs while support lies at 2,650 swing low (early March) and at 2,551.75 cyclical low.