Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The indices are off their highs for the day but still holding on to the vast majority of today's gains. Once again, trade-related headlines have acted as a catalyst for the market's movement, but they have not been the primary catalyst.

Frankly, the bulk of today's gains had been logged before reports circulated that Treasury Secretary Bessent said he expects the tariff issues with China to de-escalate. That news was simply a cherry on top of a market that had already been rallying on a belief that it was due for a rebound given the pervasive bearish sentiment (a contrarian indicator).

Granted, the 2-yr Treasury note auction could have gone better, but for today's effort, the movement of the 10-yr note has been the more influential driver. The 10-yr note yield is down three basis points to 4.38%.

The broad-based participation in today's equity rally is reflected in the fact that the market cap-weighted S&P 500 and equal-weighted S&P 500 are both up 2.4%.