IRAN: Equities Slide and Dollar Jumps On Qalibaf Resignation and Khamenei Status

• Greenback gaining further ground in recent trade despite the WSJ providing little new information outside of expectations on the Pentagon deploying 3,000 82nd Airborne Soldiers to the Middle East. The disappointing two-year auction providing additional pressure on treasuries may be assisting the dollar bid, with the DXY rising to fresh session highs and further eroding the Monday selloff.
• Risk sensitive currencies continue to bear the brunt on Tuesday, with the likes of AUD and NZD now extending losses to around 1%. For AUDUSD, this bolsters the likelihood of a close below the 50-day EMA, which would be the first below this average since November, undermining the bull theme and signalling scope for a deeper retracement. As a reminder, Australian CPI is also due on Wednesday.
• For NZDUSD, spot has returned below 0.5800 and eyes a cluster of daily lows between 0.5760-90. Further weakness would place the focus back on the 2026 lows at 0.5711.

Punchbowl News reports Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) says Republicans have sent Democrats the bill text for their Department of Homeland Security funding proposal. According to Punchbowl, the GOP plan "would fund DHS except for enforcement and removal money. And Republicans hope to handle that through reconciliation."

• Confirmation of a bill text suggests that a deal to end the multi-week shutdown could be close. However,  HuffPost reports Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said earlier a DHS deal needs to include reforms to ICE, suggesting additional negotiations may be required ahead of a vote on the bill. “There’s no reason that we can't have some of our agreed upon already reforms in this. That's what I'm looking for,” Murray said.
• The Hill notes, "Republicans would then fund the rest of ICE in a reconciliation package, which they can do without any Democratic support. That follow-up reconciliation bill could also include elements of Trump’s voter requirements bill."
• Senators are scheduled to depart Washington for a two-week Easter recess at the end of the week. The prevailing view is that the deadline is likely to expedite work on a compromise, especially considering lawmakers were kept in town last weekend to work through a marathon debate session on the SAVE America Act.
• WSJ notes, "While DHS, which oversees the TSA, has been largely shut down since last month, ICE remains fully operational using $75 billion approved under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which could fund the agency for years even if Congress doesn’t pass new appropriations."

"Pentagon to Order 3,000 82nd Airborne Soldiers to Middle East -- WSJ"

This story now gaining some traction in markets, with fresh upside for the dollar index and energy benchmarks, downside for rates and equities,

Seemingly confirms earlier reporting from both Fox (today) and the New York Times (yesterday)

Some highlights from the piece:

• "The Pentagon is planning to deploy a brigade combat team from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East to support operations against Iran, according to two U.S. officials."
• "A written order to deploy the unit, made up of roughly 3,000 soldiers, is expected in the coming hours, the officials said."
• "A decision to put boots on the ground in Iran hasn't been made, officials cautioned. "