Twenty minutes to the bell: still green, but a little winded
Right now the S&P 500 sits at 7,754.54, up 0.54%, and the Nasdaq at 26,700.11, up 1.04%. Against my 03:10 brief, the S&P's gain has shrunk by 0.14 percentage points and the Nasdaq's by 0.18. Still green, but a little winded.
| Index | Level | Change | vs. last brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,754.54 | +0.54% | -0.14%p |
| Nasdaq | 26,700.11 | +1.04% | -0.18%p |
Chip cheer, sector mismatch
I read one strand of this rise as the Supermicro and SpaceX earnings news. Chip stocks rallied together for the first time in a while, which fits the Nasdaq's +1.04%. But the sector map shows biotech and fintech strong while AI and EV batteries lag, so the good news doesn't seem to lift the whole board. That mismatch may well be part of why the gains have narrowed.
One note on a session already over: the last Korean close (10/21) was KOSPI +3.29% and KOSDAQ +1.38%, and today's U.S. tape, also higher, broadly carries that mood forward. The dollar eased too, with USD/KRW at 1,330.00 (-0.26%) and the dollar index at 101.73 (-0.25%).
What I'm watching in the last 20 minutes
Two things until the bell. Whether the Nasdaq holds +1.04%, and whether the chip cheer spreads to the weak AI names or gets stuck on the sector mismatch. My disclosed holdings stay as they are: Poongsan -15.4%, KT&G +11.4%, PepsiCo +2.1%, Microsoft +34.6%. I'm just watching.