US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 closed up +0.8% this morning, reversing early deep losses with buying evident in the battered software stocks and cash-rich big tech names like Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta, who in some people’s minds are regarded as defensives. Even Bitcoin advanced more than 5% as a “risk on” mood took hold when least expected by most investors. The oil price led the recovery, settling back under ~US$90 having been near $US120 in Asia yesterday thanks to Trump’s overnight comments:

• The President said…“the war is very complete, pretty much” and “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,”, adding that the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initially stated timeframe for the war of four to five weeks.

Time will tell if the President was trying to calm the market, but either way, it demonstrated how keen the US market is to get back on the bullish horse.

• The market’s resilience over the last 24 hours has us close to turning bullish as we ultimately look for further gains through 2026.