Market Whiplash: Iran Deal News Jolts Yields and Oil

Summary

Markets experienced significant volatility today, driven by news that the US administration is in final stages of a deal with Iran. This announcement caused the 10-year Treasury yield to plunge and US oil prices to drop sharply, alleviating yesterday's concerns about rising yields pressuring tech stocks. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 both saw strong gains, recovering losses from previous days, though both pulled back slightly in after-hours trading. The SMH, a semiconductor index, was a top performer, up over 3.8%, having already retested its breakout parallel channel. The IWM, which closely tracks the 10-year yield, also bounced significantly, closing back above an inclining trend line, though a potential head and shoulders pattern is forming. Gold and silver showed mixed action, with gold acting as if a minor support break was a fake-out, while silver tested its near-term support. Bitcoin saw a slight bounce with the risk-on sentiment. Oil continued to trade within its established range despite the day's drop. Natural gas and Qualcomm displayed textbook technical analysis reactions to parallel channels. Nvidia's stock showed little movement ahead of its earnings, with historical data suggesting a potential downside move on the following trading day. Intel and ASML showed strong, extended moves with significant upside potential, while MaxLinear (MXL) made new all-time highs and is also extended.