The WSJ is out with the latest leak on US-Iran negotiations:
- Talks could resume as early as next week
- Iran remains against transferring nuclear material
- Iran and the US working with mediators to formulate a 14-point MOU that would set the parameters for a month of talks to end the war
- The US would ‘wind back’ its blockade during those 30 days
- Details remain unresolved
We continue to wait for war news but the market seems to have moved on. The Nasdaq is up for the sixth straight week and higher by more than 5% this week. Today we have big gains across tech and the S&P 500 is also up 0.8%.
Optimism is in the air and it’s been an incredible bull run from the bottom at the end of March. One of the non-war catalysts was the Claude Mythos leaks and that was followed by incredible capex numbers from hyperscalers. All that has reaffirmed optimism around AI and how transformational it will be. It’s turned into something of a mania as stocks are bid each day and chip-related names make incredible gains.
The US dollar is softer today and Treasury yields are lower. That’s despite a stronger non-farm payrolls print. The upside from that was likely tempered by a soft read on wages in the jobs report and war optimism.
The caveat is that it’s Friday and early in the war, we saw plenty of Friday night surprises. That angst isn’t affecting stocks much at the open though, with the S&P 500 in striking distance from the highs of the day.
