The main factor driving market volatility: Current market volatility is being driven by the clash between optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and growing concerns about an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. On the one hand, the excellent results posted by technology companies are fuelling investors’ imagination. On the other hand, however, instability in key resource-producing regions serves as a reminder of the ever-present risk. As a result, the markets appear to be treating this uncertainty as the new normal, as evidenced by elevated volatility indicators.
Geopolitics: The situation in the Middle East is becoming increasingly tense as the sixty-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran draws to a close. Negotiations have reached an impasse, and shipping traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz has almost completely ground to…