US STOCKS: Late Equities Roundup: Drifting Near Four Week Highs on Trade Hopes

• RES 4: 165.43 High Nov 8        
• RES 3: 164.90 High Dec 30 ‘24 and a key medium-term resistance   
• RES 2: 164.55 High Jan 7
• RES 1: 164.19 High Mar 18 and the bull trigger 
• PRICE: 162.95 @ 17:05 GMT Apr 2 
• SUP 1: 160.78 Low Apr 1 pivot support and the 50-day EMA 
• SUP 2: 160.06 Low Mar 13   
• SUP 3: 158.90 Low Mar 10  
• SUP 4: 158.00 Round number support 

The trend structure in EURJPY remains bullish and recent weakness appears corrective. The pullback has allowed an overbought condition to unwind. Pivot support is 160.75, the 50-day EMA. A break of it would signal potential for a deeper retracement. For bulls, attention is on 164.08, the Jan 24 high. It has been pierced, a clear break of this hurdle would strengthen a bullish condition and open 164.90, the Dec 30 ‘24 high.    

• Stocks are holding modestly higher levels in late trade, near mid-range for the session as markets await Pres Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement scheduled for 1600ET.
• Though several news outlets announced over the last couple days that Elon Musk would be stepping down from DOGE by the end of May, stocks extended gains through midday after Politico reported that Musk will step back from "governing partner" role in the next few weeks.
• Currently, the DJIA trades up 125.99 points (0.3%) at 42114.26, S&P E-Minis up 20.25 points (0.36%) at 5695.75, Nasdaq up 89.3 points (0.5%) at 17539.26.
• Consumer Discretionary and Financial sectors outperformed in the second half, Caesars Entertainment +4.91%, , Tesla +4.40%, CarMax +4.17% and DoorDash +3.62% buoyed the Consumer Discretionary sector.
• Banks and services supported the Financial's sector with Discover Financial Services +3.28%, Invesco +2.86%, Synchrony Financial +2.80%, Blackstone +2.61% and Capital One Financial +2.23%.
• Consumer Staples and Communication Services sectors underperformed in late trade with Altria Group -4.29%, Mondelez International -2.65%, Hershey -2.54% and Philip Morris International -1.75% weighing on the former.
• Meanwhile, telecom stocks weighed on the Communication Services sector: T-Mobile -1.89%, Verizon Communications -1.59%, AT&T -1.18% and Comcast Corp -1.08%.

• WTI Crude is higher on the day ahead of details on US reciprocal tariffs due to be announced at 2100BST/1600ET. The potential impact on global demand from increased trade protectionism and rising OPEC+ supply is weighed against the potential for tougher sanctions on Iran and US tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.
• WTI May 25 is up by 0.8% at $71.8/bbl.
• President Trump has said that the tariffs will take effect immediately, while Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that there will be a “cap” and that countries can negotiate to reduce the tariff they face below this. There could be a tiered tariff structure along with specific reciprocal taxes, according to Bloomberg.
• The sharp rally in WTI futures earlier this week undermines the medium-term bearish condition and signals scope for a continuation higher near-term, exposing the next key resistance at $72.91, the Feb 11 high.
• Meanwhile, spot gold has consolidated below yesterday’s record high, as the market awaits Trump’s tariff announcement, with the yellow metal edging up by 0.3% to $3,123/oz.
• Analysts at Mizuho Securities said that those invested in gold as a safe haven are not likely to sell quickly even if the reciprocal tariff announcement is a non-event. They expect safe haven flows to ride out the storm.
• From a technical perspective, the trend condition in gold remains bullish, with sights on $3,151.5 next, a Fibonacci projection.