S&P 500 bears seeking a break of critical support structure

• S&P 500 under pressure on banking sector concerns. 
• Plunging deposits at First Republic Bank have reignited worries over the health of the banking sector.
• S&P 500 is on the backside of bull trend, eyes on critical structures. 

The S&P 500 is firmly down on Tuesday and is printing fresh lows in late trade to 4,074.22. The index has traveled between a high of 4,126.43 and a low of 4,074.07 so far and is losing 1.57% at the time of writing. 

US stocks are on track to end lower on a slew of earnings reports that have come out largely negative has weighed on risk sentiment, especially in the banking sector, bourne out of worrying earnings from First Republic Bank and UBS.

Plunging deposits at First Republic Bank have reignited worries over the health of the banking sector and UBS reporting a 52% slide in quarterly income as it prepares to swallow fallen rival Credit Suisse has not helped to encourage any hunger for risk in the financial markets. The revival of banking sector concerns could be an ongoing theme and that leaves the outlook fundamentally bearish for US equities and the S&P 500 index. 

Meanwhile, Tuesday's economic calendar came with a number of several data points on the housing market and combined with consumer confidence falling to its lowest since July, while the Richmond Fed's survey of manufacturing activity came in at -10 versus a consensus of +4, bears have moved in. 

S&P 500 index

The S&P 500 index has broken structure on the backside of the prior supporting trendline and is embarking on a test of the 4,069 critical support. A pullback could be on the cards at this juncture from such a major support level: