Investors Are Wondering If Stocks Have Seen the Worst of the War

It’s been a volatile stretch for US equities as Wall Street tries to wrap its arms around the war in Iran. But with the fighting now in its third week, investors are becoming more sanguine about the stock market as signs emerge that the worst may be over.

Of course, concerns remain. Surging oil prices driven by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz threaten to spur inflation, reducing the odds of an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve and raising the chances of an economic slowdown or a recession. Supply chains for various products, from metals and materials to food and pharmaceuticals, are at risk. And then there are the worries about artificial intelligence disruption and private credit exposure that were weighing on sentiment before the war began.