Nearly 60% of S&P 500 stocks now carry a Buy rating from Wall Street analysts, the highest level on record, after the United States and Iran agreed to halt strikes and ease geopolitical tensions.
The mix of record analyst optimism and cooling Middle East risk has reinforced bullish sentiment across US equities and other risk assets, including crypto.
S&P 500 Buy Ratings Climb Toward a Record
Nearly 60% of S&P 500 stocks carry a Buy rating, the highest on record, strategist Charlie Bilello says. FactSet data put Buy ratings at 59.4% of analyst calls in June.
Hold ratings have slipped to 35.7%, and Sell calls sit at 4.9%, below their five-year average. Such Sell calls are structurally rare, since Wall Street analysts lean toward Buy and Hold.
Bilello, chief market strategist at Creative Planning, framed the optimism as a caution rather than a green light.
“When everyone is expecting good news, there’s less room for positive surprises,” He shared the view in late June.
Analyst optimism firmed as the US and Iran agreed to stop all “kinetic activity,” according to Axios. They will meet Tuesday in Doha.
According to the report, U.S. officials said both sides will suspend hostilities for now, allowing commercial vessels to move freely while technical negotiations continue.
The talks will focus on implementing the ceasefire terms, including maritime security measures and a planned military hotline between the U.S. and Iran that has yet to become operational.
The deal extends a stop-start truce that began with a June 18 framework, which collapsed into fresh strikes days later. Cooling Middle East risk has helped reinforce the bullish mood across markets.
What It Means for Crypto and Risk Assets
The crypto stakes run through the Strait of Hormuz. About 20 million barrels of oil cross it each day, roughly a fifth of global consumption, per the EIA. Each flare-up there has battered crypto prices. A June 3 drop below $66,000 set off about $1.84 billion in liquidations, the most since February, per CoinGlass.
Stocks have held near highs while Bitcoin (BTC) has slumped to lows, a divergence worth watching for risk assets. Bitcoin’s spot price sat near $59,633 on Monday, down about 6% on the week despite the truce talks. That leaves it roughly 53% below its October 2025 peak near $126,080.
When the two sides signed the June framework, oil fell and US stocks rallied. Bitcoin trades around the clock, so it often moves on these headlines before equities open.
The setup stays fragile. President Trump has threatened to “complete the job,” and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued fresh warnings over the strait. Bank of America has long called Bitcoin a risk asset rather than an inflation hedge. Its tight link to stocks cuts both ways.