S&P 500 E-Minis Back Above 4,100 As Regional Banks Firm Pre-Market

E-minis firm to fresh session highs as NY participants file in, we flag a couple of areas of focus:

• Apple’s firmer than expected earnings & equity buyback announcement.
• A bounce In regional banking names pre-market, likely aided by the American Bankers Association urging regulators to investigate a deluge of sizeable short sales of publicly traded banking equities that the body deemed "disconnected from the underlying financial realities.
• Elsewhere, a BBG source report released late Thursday noted that the U.S. is “poised to exempt smaller lenders from kicking in extra money to replenish the government’s bedrock deposit insurance fund, and instead saddle the biggest banks with much of the bill” (although that further opens up incentivization debate re: large banks cherry picking from failed banks).
• The major e-mini futures sit 0.5-0.7% higher (S&P 500 leading, just, DJIA lagging), with yesterday’s high (4,118.00) layered in above current S&P 500 contract levels as it shows back above 4,100. Bulls are trying to chew away at week-to date losses, with the 20-day EMA (4,127.43) providing the most meaningful area of technical resistance ahead of the May 1 high (4,206.25).
• Participation remains subdued pre-NFP, which will likely be the major tone setter in front of the weekend (excluding regional banking news/speculation)..