U.S. Stocks Decline for Consecutive Days, Energy Sector Outperforms

U.S. equity markets registered their first instance of consecutive down days of the year as weakness in the higher-beta sectors weighed on the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq.   Consumer Discretionary and Tech were broadly sold on Wednesday while defensive sectors like Health Care and Staples outperformed.  Energy was again the best-performing space with WTI Crude Oil topping $62 for the first time since late October on signs that a deeper intervention by U.S. forces in Iran could be imminent - after Trump's post that "help is on the way" to Iranian "patriots" yesterday, reports surfaced that U.S. may be pre-emptively disarming Tehran from retaliation by moving some of its military personnel out of Qatar.As the earnings season ramps up, mega-cap financials were again in focus as weakness in shares of JPMorganyesterday was followed by post-results selling in Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.   With Morgan Stanleyand Goldman Sachson tap for earnings on Thursday morning, U.S. equity futures are flashing further risk aversion - Dow Industrials, S&P e-minis, and Nasdaq 100 futures are all down by a decimal in the opening hour of the evening session.Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER AFTER EARNINGS -BRC Groupup 42.7%RF Industriesup 22.5%ALSO HIGHER -Calavo Growersup 12.9% after announcing acquisition by Mission ProduceDOWN AFTER EARNINGS -H.B. Fullerdown 2.3%Compass Diversifieddown 1.7%