Wall Street still thinks stocks can push higher, despite the latest attacks in the Middle East, for one simple reason: President Donald Trump doesn’t want to knock the stock market’s momentum. The major U.S. stock indexes have scaled new heights this year thanks in large part to investors piling into companies tied to the artificial intelligence boom. The S & P 500 has climbed more than 9% in 2026, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite have advanced 8.9% and 11%, respectively. Stocks in early trading Thursday also managed to recover most of their losses from the previous session, which were sparked by higher oil prices after Trump said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was “over.” .SPX 5D mountain SPX 5-day chart “On the U.S. side, President Trump has shown an affinity to strong equity prices, and stable bond markets, so this is the basis for our view he will return to negotiating in relatively short order,” Citigroup strategist Max Layton wrote to clients. Indeed, Trump said Wednesday evening that Iran called to make a deal following U.S. strikes . “We have many ways we can win, but we’ve already won militarily,” Trump said. “They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem.” Crude prices stabilized on Thursday, with U.S. oil and Brent futures trading fractionally lower. Treasury yields were little changed. During both of his terms, Trump has pointed to the stock market as a reference for his policy successes . And under both his terms, the major averages have reached record highs — though not without some volatility. Right now, “investors hope the latest outburst of violence in the Middle East has concluded,” wrote Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge. But a prolonged escalation of tensions between Iran and the U.S. could thwart the market’s bull run. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that Iran called to make a deal following U.S. strikes. A previous version inaccurately described his statement about the call and misstated the day he spoke.
