Yesterday conflicting Iran related news led to some volatility in the oil and equity markets. Brent November crude traded between $104-$109 before settling ~$105.25, up 1%. The S&P 500, S&P equal-weight and the Russell 2000 all fell around 0.7%. Once again, the rise in yields was a primary driver of weakness as rates rose 6-8bp across the curve. Consumer Staples, Healthcare and Energy were the only sectors higher while Comm Services (META giving back some of its recent big gains), Discretionary and Financials led to the downside.

The back-and-forth Iran news flow continues but the conflicting reports out of the Bronx have unfortunately been settled with Aaron Judge left off the Wild Card Roster. Have no fear, Giancarlo Stanton who hasn’t played since April did make the cut. Okay maybe that wasn’t so reassuring but at least the “incumbent” Cy Young award winner will be taking the mound. President Trump has also tried to provide some clarity denying he is weighing sanctions relief in return for ‘concrete’ steps over Iran’s nuclear program, though he has suggested negotiations are ongoing. While sanctions relief for Iran may not be coming, the Atlantic reported that Trump would back relief for Russia. This helped oil prices move lower but unfortunately that has not stopped the move higher in yields. US equity markets opened modestly higher but have been drifting lower since. It is a busy day of AI related headlines which is helping the tech trade continue to outperform. As we head to print the S&P 500 is ~0.3% continuing to trade in its recent range. Meanwhile small and midcap indices are down a little more than 0.5% but are now either testing or breaking below their 200d ma’s for the first time since March. For reference the 200d ma for the S&P 500 is ~7,200 down nearly 6% from current levels.