Laura Bessarati

Now, we did have a strong lead in from Wall Street overnight, which hit yet another record high.

Investors have been seeming to shrug off the escalating threats between the U.S.

and Iran.

and instead focusing on strong earnings.

So eight in 10 S&P 500 stocks so far have beat earnings expectations.

And that's really what's been driving the US market higher to a number of record highs over the course of the month.

And in fact, the S&P 500 index posted its best month since November 2020.

It was up something like 10% over the course of the month.

Now, something that hasn't disappeared is the tensions between the US and Iran.

We've seen, you know, those hopes for a peace deal starting to dim.

You know, the expectations that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen.

They're also starting to be dashed.

And, you know, tensions between the two parties just seem to be moving closer to escalation.

escalation rather than de-escalation.

So the latest is that President Trump reaffirmed that the US would maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports to intensify economic pressures.

And then plus yesterday, we spoke about how there were some reports that Trump might start weighing new military options in Iran.

So definitely going the wrong way.

We've also heard that Iran's Supreme Leader,

also dampened prospects for a deal by saying that it would not relinquish its nuclear and missile capabilities.

So they're certainly not seeing eye to eye and they seem to be locked in a standoff for now.