US STOCKS: Late Equities Roundup: IT, Industrials, Staples Outperforming

• RES 4: 150.49 High Apr 2   
• RES 3: 149.28 High Apr 3
• RES 2: 147.67/148.65 High May 14 / 12 and a reversal trigger
• RES 1: 145.46/146.28 High Jun 11 / High May 29 and key resistance
• PRICE: 145.23 @ 15:46 BST Jun 17
• SUP 1: 142.80/12 Low Jun 11 / Low May 27 and a key support
• SUP 2: 141.96 76.4% retracement of the Apr 22 - May 12 bull leg
• SUP 3: 139.89 Low Apr 22 and a bear trigger 
• SUP 4: 138.82 1.50 proj of the Feb 12 - Mar 11 - 28 price swing 

USDJPY is higher, but remains  inside the broad range and below last week’s high. Recent weakness suggests the correction between Jun 3 - 11, is over. The trend direction is down - moving average studies are in a clear bear-mode position, highlighting a dominant downtrend. A resumption of weakness would open 142.12, the May 27 low. Key short-term resistance is 146.28, the May 29 high. First resistance is 145.46, Jun 11 high.   

• Still off early Monday lows, stocks are retreating late Tuesday as Middle East tensions heat up. Following a series of social media posts around midday, wires said Pres Trump is considering joining Israel on striking Iran. Markets currently await a state Department press briefing.
• Currently, the DJIA trades down 320.42 points (-0.75%) at 42195.11, S&P E-Minis down 51.25 points (-0.84%) at 6038.5, Nasdaq down 185.9 points (-0.9%) at 19515.53.
• A mix of Health Care, Materials and Consumer Discretionary sectors underperformed in the first half, but it was a handful of Tech stocks led laggers: Enphase Energy -22.82%, First Solar -17.95% and AES -9.12% as the Senate looks to end wind & solar tax credits.
• Pharmaceuticals traded weaker as the WH considers cracking down on drug company advertising: Charles River Laboratories -4.56%, Bio-Techne -3.78%, IQVIA Holdings -3.15%, Thermo Fisher Scientific -2.93% and AbbVie -2.73%.
• The Energy sector outperformed as said geopol risk buoyed crude prices (WTI +2.804 at 74.57) in turn supported oil and gas stocks: Valero Energy +2.32%, APA Corp +2.17%, Diamondback Energy +2.15% and Chevron +1.92%.

The Federal Reserve has provided notice that it will hold an Open Board Meeting at 2pm ET on Wednesday Jun 25, with the subject: "Proposed revisions to the Board’s supplementary leverage ratio standards".

• While there were no more details provided, the announcement appears to have rekindled speculation that the regulatory authorities will soon align on an easing of SLR standards, which is seen to be supportive of demand for Treasuries vs swaps.
• The 10Y SOFR swap spread widened in Treasuries' favor by 0.9bp to -52.6bp. The spread remains tighter than the -50bp level that has prevailed since Treasury market turmoil in April.
• This is unlikely to be the end of the process: Gov Bowman who heads Fed supervision said earlier this month that the Fed will host a conference in July addressing several  aspects of large bank regulation including SLR, though in a nod to broader  reforms, she says there will also be potential changes discussed at the event including GSIB surcharges, Basel III capital requirements, and stress testing.