Hopes are never enough these days – North American Session Market Wrap for March 26

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for March 26

It would have been unrealistic to assume that a bottom has been reached without a significant advancement in the war.

Today, sentiment took a downturn as President Trump shifted his rhetoric, becoming more aggressive in response to Iran, which has, until now, refused to make concessions for a longer peace deal.

In an address at the White House during the midday session, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Army revealed that their enemy counterpart had offered substantial gifts, including a fleet of ten tankers, to facilitate the ongoing indirect negotiations in Pakistan.

The issue is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is unwilling to compromise on its control of the Strait of Hormuz and its highly valued, albeit dangerous, ballistic missile program.

Although Israel has begun to realize that the U.S. is prepared to conclude the conflict sooner rather than later, it is still too early to say whether a deal will be reached before the 5-day deadline (which ends on Saturday).

Therefore, the possibility of a ground invasion remains a consideration, as a heavy Marine fleet is expected to arrive in the Arabian Sea within the next 24 hours.

A recent report from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the war may end sooner than anticipated has not been enough to invigorate market sentiment. Investors are increasingly concerned about potential escalation before any resolution.

Virtually all asset classes are experiencing the impact of the uncertain market conditions, with metals down an average of 4% across the asset class, along with declines in cryptocurrencies, stocks, and bonds. Hope alone cannot do much to alleviate such an uncertain market environment.

Tomorrow’s weekly close will be crucial in this regard.

Any positive developments ahead of the weekend could lead to a significant rebound in global assets – This would first be observed in Crypto Markets (which remain open 24/7).

Additionally, inflation expectations, which will be released tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. ET, will need to be monitored closely.

Read More:

• Logical skepticism for peace pulls the Petrodollar higher – EUR/USD, AUD/USD and Dollar Index (DXY) overview
• Optimism fades and Nasdaq burns its wings – Dow Jones and US Stock Market Outlook
• Chart Alert: META down 7%, GOOGL breaks key support. What comes next for the tech heavyweights?
• Too soon for a Crypto bounce – Bitcoin (BTC) & Ethereum (ETH) Outlook

Today was the mark of another brutal session for Tech, decidedly struggling in 2026, dragging its main representative, the Nasdaq, at the lows of US Index performances(-2%).

Meta was the main culprit but it alone did not justify the broad risk-aversion seen in Market.

Producer Manufacturing also got rejected harshly from the re-escalation fears.

As explored in our daily Stock Market Check, Tech had remained quite resilient while its more defensive peers struggled. But when chickens come to roost, higher-beta assets always get dragged further.

Tomorrow and Monday will mark essential final tests to avoid a larger catastrophy for Wall Street.

Today was a bloodbath in the Market, with the regular Petrodollar and Crude combo ravaging everything on their way, with a particular strength.

This strength arises from the fact that this week's rebound was quite fragile, with sentiment remaining cloudy throughout the week – metals were hit the hardest.

Their run is now quite compromised, with Gold and Silver both breaching their $4,400 and $70 psychological levels, respectively. If this continues, expect more pain ahead.

The fate of Markets lies in the hands of Oil and the Strait of Hormuz.

Today broadly continued the persistent rebound in the US Dollar, outperforming all its peers for the second consecutive session.

Reactions to the top of the RSI range around 100.00 will have to be tracked closely – the Aussie and Kiwi dollars are struggling hard on the other hand – Watch for this as it seems to become a repetitive pattern in recent sessions.

Tomorrow will be focusing heavily on US Inflation expectations at 10:00 A.M, but potentially even more on communications from the Trump Administration regarding the War and the arrival of the large Marine fleet.

For GBP traders, watch out for Retail Sales in the early UK morning!

Keep a close eye on sentiment and Middle East news.

Safe Trades!

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