Bank Stocks Hit Record Highs as IPOs Replace Iran Tensions
Geopolitics and Wall Street don’t usually mix well. This time, they did. Every member of the KBW Bank Index hit a record close last week after President Trump signaled an Iran deal could be near, sending stocks higher. With a blockbuster IPO season also underway, banks have rarely had this much in their favor.
- KBW closed out the week up 3.32%, with standout gains from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs — well ahead of the S&P 500’s -0.12% drop over the same stretch.
- Oil sank late in the week as Trump called off retaliatory strikes for a downed Apache helicopter — offering relief after weeks of conflict-driven volatility.
Best of everything: According to JPMorgan, the chaos has been good for business. Q1 marked the best-ever quarter for trading revenue, with more gains to come. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are co-leading IPOs for SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, including SpaceX’s record $75B raise. Amid a fat fee tailwind, JPMorgan upgraded both banks to outperform, raising price targets ahead of mid-July earnings. That makes two upgrades, three IPOs, and a summer without chaos (hopefully).
