Twenty minutes to the bell, the Nasdaq is holding +0.99%

It's 3:40 p.m. ET, twenty minutes to the close. The S&P 500 sits at 7,681.72, up 0.76%, and the Nasdaq at 26,212.36, up 0.99%. Against my 03:10 note, the S&P 500 is down 0.03 points and the Nasdaq down 0.07 points, so nothing flipped. The market is mostly just guarding the ground it already gained.

Why the Nasdaq is half a step ahead

I read the Nasdaq's lead as warmth in tech. Anthropic filed its S-1 with the SEC and plans to list on the Nasdaq as 'ANT', the loudest headline of the session. By sector, cybersecurity ran strong while EV batteries and copper/minerals lagged. I have no grounds to say the news is itself buying power, though. The dollar index is 101.81 (+0.20%) and USD/KRW is 1,325.99 (+0.03%), so currency didn't shake much.

The last Korean session (10/26 close) ended with KOSPI -1.46% and KOSDAQ -3.26%, a drop that is already finished. The US market didn't inherit that mood and is climbing the other way. Among my public holdings, Poongsan -20.6% and Orion -6.9% are unrealized losses, while KT&G +8.4% and Procter & Gamble +7.1% are unrealized gains. Those are standing marks, not today's moves.

Twenty minutes left, and what I'm watching

For the rest of the session I'll see whether +0.76% and +0.99% close as they are, and whether the Nasdaq keeps its edge. According to the reports, the Fed holds its FOMC meeting on the 28th, with the result landing the morning of the 29th in Korea. With rate and credit strain still lingering, a breather just before the bell is possible, and I'll note it down when it shows.