25 Feb 2026

Financial markets are becalmed after US president Donald Trump stuck to the script in his State of the Union address last night, avoiding any major policy announcements and striking a more measured tone on Iran than some investors had feared. The dollar is almost unchanged relative to the afternoon fix, benchmark Treasury yields are edging higher, and equity markets look set to extend yesterday’s recovery into a second session. Measures of implied volatility are tracking lower, with the VIX index—Wall Street’s “fear gauge”—falling back below the 20 threshold that typically signals a sense of alarm among market participants. The president...