Hormuz Optimism Opened the Door, but Nasdaq Quietly Slipped Out

Right now the S&P500 is basically flat at 7,739.49 (+0.04%), while the Nasdaq has slipped 0.35% to 26,491.25. We opened higher across the board this morning on hopes the Strait of Hormuz might open up, but compared to my last brief at 00:10, the S&P has cooled by 0.26 points and the Nasdaq by 0.49 — whatever buzz carried the morning seems to have faded by lunchtime. With word going around that SpaceX is sliding hard on worries over whether its AI spending will actually pay off, it feels like even with chips and AI names still holding the strong-sector spot, some caution is creeping into the bigger growth names. Last night's roughly 4% Kospi jump (+3.76%) rode that same AI tailwind ahead of us, but today's US session isn't quite carrying that momentum forward. In my own book, Poongsan is the one smiling at +16.8%, Alphabet's still nursing a -3.0% dent, and KT&G +1.0% / Broadcom -0.1% are just sitting quiet — with three hours twenty minutes left before the close, what I'm watching is how much further this Nasdaq softness runs.