Good morning. The US carried out self-defense strikes in southern Iran on Tuesday, hitting IRGC vessels laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz and a SAM site at Bandar Abbas. Asia decided it doesn't change the bigger picture. Nikkei to fresh records, Kospi rocketed at the open. The market read is that this fits inside the ceasefire framework rather than breaking it. Trump said talks are "proceeding nicely". The tape is taking him at his word.

Oil pulled back instead of spiking, the cleanest signal there is. Brent at $99.18, WTI at $93.83, both near five-week lows. Hormuz traffic isn't disrupted. If the strikes had escalated risk, we'd see oil higher, not softer.

Europe opening mixed. DAX +0.13% pre-market, broader Stoxx 600 caught between the strikes and the peace progress. No big macro on the calendar this morning, so the tape leans on Iran headlines.

US closed strong Tuesday on a tech-led rally. S&P 500 and Nasdaq both at fresh record highs. Futures point higher again, S&P E-mini +0.67%, Nasdaq E-mini +1.03%. The AI capex trade keeps absorbing every macro shock thrown at it.

Asia was the standout. Nikkei 225 +1.49% to another record. Kospi +4.84% at the open after Korea reopened from holiday. Topix +0.57%, ASX 200 +0.13%, Hang Seng futures softer around 25,508. The geographic spread is wide, the theme is the same.

Crypto holding the bid. BTC around $77,000, ETH near $2,120. The $76K floor we've been pointing at the last two weeks keeps producing buyers. Gold at $4,510, slightly softer as risk-on pulls demand the other way. Same dollar, different baskets.

Today's calendar: light on hard data. Fed minutes coming up tomorrow are the bigger event. Today is positioning ahead of that.

The set-up is risk-on with one hand on the door. Iran's response to the strikes is the only thing that changes the trade.

More as it develops.