Equity Roundup: Firmer, Consumer Staples, Industrials outperforming

Stock indexes holding firmer levels, off early session highs in the lead-up to the FOMC policy annc at 1400ET. Consumer Staples and Industrials outperforming. Currently, SPX eminis trade +20.75 (0.54%) at 3894.25; DJIA +142.1 (0.46%) at 30852.52; Nasdaq +52.6 (0.5%) at 11478.32.

• Despite the modest bounce (SPX back near middle of Tue's range) bearish outlook remains after last week’s reversal and break of a key short-term support at 3900.00, the Sep 7 low. This confirmed a resumption of the bear cycle that started mid-August and has paved the way for a move towards 3819.54, a Fibonacci retracement. Key short-term resistance has been defined at 4175.00, the Sep 13 high. Initial resistance is at 4002.92, the 20-day EMA.
• SPX leading/lagging sectors: Consumer Staples lead for the second day running (+1.32%) lead by food, beverage and tobacco shares; Industrials (+1.17%) and Utilities (+0.95%) follow. Laggers: Consumer Services (-0.22%) weighed by telecom shares, followed by Materials (+0.31%) and Consumer Discretionary (+0.36%) with services underperforming.
• Dow Industrials Leaders/Laggers: Rebounding after heavy pressure Tue, Home Depot (HD) +5.11 to 279.27, Walmart (WMT) +3.65 at 137.20, Goldman Sachs (GS) +3.08 at 326.24. Laggers: Disney (DIS) -1.06 at 106.51, Visa (V) -0.70 at 191.37, Verizon (VZ) -0.45 at 40.14.