03/08/2026 09:40

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 gained +1.1% last week, although the journey was particularly choppy with news flow thick on the ground. The index tumbled -1.5% on Tuesday after the Fed left rates unchanged but the Fed Chair sounded hawkish, while Brent crude climbed above US$90/bbl. on escalating Middle East tensions, pushing 30-year Treasury yields to their highest levels in almost two decades.

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30/07/2026 09:35

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 closed down 1.5% overnight, while the Dow dived more than 1100-points delivering its worst session since “Liberation Day”  more than a year ago. It sounds dramatic but the chart below shows the market remains in the same relatively tight trading range of the last 3-months. Strong comments from Fed Chair sent US 30-year bond yields to their highest level since the GFC in 2007:

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28/07/2026 09:34

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 ended marginally higher overnight despite a positive open. The session was defined by two competing forces: a geopolitical relief rally in the morning, driven by a pause in US-Iran hostilities that sent Brent crude tumbling over 9% and lifted the likes of airlines and cruise lines, and a sharp intraday reversal in semiconductor stocks that capped broader index gains, e.g. AMD (-5.2%) and Nvidia (-5%).

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27/07/2026 09:46

US S&P 500 Index

We’re now around 60% through US earnings season and the S&P 500’s 2Q earnings have been exceptionally strong, with around 85% of companies beating EPS expectations, the highest beat rate in five years, however, despite the strength, the market reaction has been muted, with the median stock underperforming the broader index following its results - simply expectations have often been too high.

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21/07/2026 09:29

US S&P 500 Index

US stocks retreated overnight with the S&P 500 closing down 0.2% as the US completed its 9th consecutive day of strikes on Iran. Elsewhere, US equities finished mixed overnight, with the Dow falling 0.6% while the Nasdaq rose less than 0.1% after rallying more than 1% intraday. The Dow underperformed as losses in heavyweight constituents, including Apple (-2.6%) and Tesla (-1.9%), weighed on the index, while financials edged lower after a good run.

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20/07/2026 09:26

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 experienced a volatile week, opening strongly as semiconductor stocks rallied on a record US$21bn of inflows into chip ETFs and a 20% surge in SK Hynix's ADRs. However, sentiment reversed sharply mid-week after TSMC delivered another strong result but raised FY capex guidance to US$60–64bn, again fuelling concerns AI infrastructure spending may be nearing a peak and future margins could come under pressure.

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15/07/2026 09:47

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 closed up 0.4% this morning, helped by a bounce in semiconductors, softer inflation data, and a strong financial sector following earnings beats by the first banks to report. The US banks kicked off earnings season strongly, with Goldman Sachs jumping +9% after comfortably beating expectations, while JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America both gained around +2% following bumper second-quarter results, dragging up the broader financial sector, with UBS rallying by 3.6%. The only bank to disappoint was Citi, which fell 5% on a mixed update. We would expect Macquarie to have a good day – nicely poised to break out of it’s recent trading range to new highs.

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09/07/2026 09:14

US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 closed down 0.2% overnight as the Iran situation weighed on risk assets. Still, if you stand back and look at a chart of the S&P500 over the last 3 years, it's simply consolidating before another likely leg higher - there's nothing scary from a technical perspective. However, it feels very different when you read the news! As we know, President Donald Trump declared the Iran ceasefire effectively over at the NATO summit in Turkey, fuelling concerns of renewed Middle East conflict and lifting oil prices. The renewed geopolitical risk has caused investors to understandably recalibrate risk when comments such as “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum”, cross-trading screens.

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20/04/2026 08:40

US S&P 500 Index

Before attributing this week's neck-breaking rally entirely to Middle East optimism, investors should understand what was really happening under the surface, because a significant portion of this move had nothing to do with fundamentals and everything to do with pain. This was, in large part, a short squeeze. Goldman Sachs's basket of the most-shorted US stocks surged more than 13%,  outperforming the S&P 500 by 9% in a single week, its best showing since 2023.

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13/03/2026 09:53

US S&P 500 Index

Wall Street fell overnight as tensions in the Gulf escalated, with tanker attacks and the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut, pushing Brent back toward US$100. While the U.S. and Israel hold clear military dominance, Iran’s hardline regime remains entrenched and appears to be leveraging oil supply disruptions to create economic pressure and force a diplomatic off-ramp.

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