// MARKETS

EUR/USD bounced to 1.1654 (+0.31%) as the dollar slipped on Hormuz ceasefire optimism, even after US strikes complicated the picture. Range traded tight all session as traders weighed conflicting Iran headlines.

Cable closed at 1.3445 (+0.21%), a modest grind higher tracking broad dollar softness. Deutsche Bank's EUR/GBP rally call dampened sterling enthusiasm; GBP underperformed EUR on the session.

USD/JPY slipped to 159.24 (-0.20%) as the dollar lost some Iran-premium overnight, but the pair stayed pinned near intervention-watch territory. Yen failed to capitalize on lower US yields.

AUD/USD rallied to 0.7166 (+0.47%), the best G10 performer as oil-stress easing lifted commodity currencies and the dollar's geopolitical bid faded.

Gold rebounded to $4,523 (+1.71%) as US strikes on Iran reignited the safe-haven bid after two sessions of ceasefire-driven selling. Silver led the precious metals complex higher with a +1.90% move.

Silver surged 1.90% to $76.02, outpacing gold's bounce as industrial-metals demand and the geopolitical bid stacked. Opened lower on Iran drone news, then ripped on the strike headlines.

WTI slipped to $88.48 (-0.23%), giving back overnight gains as Hormuz ceasefire optimism overcame US-strike concerns. Tight range as traders waited for the next Iran headline.

S&P 500 climbed to 7,563.6 (+0.58%), printing fresh record territory on US-Iran ceasefire optimism. Dell earnings and a Pentagon software deal added a bid; breadth supportive.

Nasdaq 100 jumped to 30,223.9 (+0.84%), outperforming as AI-leveraged names led on the ceasefire bid plus fresh Anthropic $1T valuation chatter. Micron Q1 earnings still echoing.

Dow ground out a marginal +0.05% to 50,669, lagging tech-led peers as defensives and rate-sensitives waited for Friday's PCE inflation print before committing.

Bitcoin slipped to $73,558 (-1.06%) as risk assets diverged — equities rallied on ceasefire optimism while crypto faded. ETH down 0.76% in sympathy.

ETH eased to $2,007 (-0.76%), underperforming BTC even as Standard Chartered reset its 2026 prediction with the AMZN-after-dotcom analogy. Stablecoin-arms-race headlines didn't move the spot tape.

Nvidia gained 0.78% to $214.25 in a mixed AI-name session. Yahoo Finance ran a 'bubble' segment on the AI trade; Micron's 850% YTD run highlighted memory leverage, not chip-design weakness.

Tesla closed at $442.10 (+0.40%), drifting higher with the broader Nasdaq. SpaceX-merger overhang dominated the news flow; production headlines absent.

Apple added 0.53% to $312.51, a quiet grind on Best Buy's positive read-through (gadget demand + tax refunds) without major company-specific news.

Microsoft surged 3.47% to $426.99, the day's mega-cap leader on a multibillion-dollar Pentagon software deal report from Dell. Azure/AI demand stack stays in play.

Meta closed unchanged at $635.29 as Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp subscription chatter went sideways. Anthropic $1T valuation headlines redirected AI-capex attention away from in-house Meta spend.

Alphabet rose 0.33% to $390.13. Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 release plus the $1T pre-IPO valuation reinforced GOOGL's strategic investment thesis; Samsung HBM4E added an upstream positive.

Amazon gained 0.79% to $274.00 with Snowflake's AWS partnership and AI-demand story providing a lift. AWS leverage to enterprise AI capex still the cleanest read.