Inflation ran hot, but chips smiled through it

Right now the S&P 500 is up 0.93% at 7,662.32 and the Nasdaq is up 1.13% at 26,376.72 — a genuinely good-mood morning. Last night's inflation print landed hotter than expected, enough that talk of a rate hike at next week's Fed meeting picked up, but semiconductors and clean energy are shrugging that weight off and leading the tape. Compared to my last check-in the move is basically a hair's width, so after an early jolt things feel like they're just catching their breath here, while the dollar keeps climbing steadily on its own. Given how hard both the Kospi and Kosdaq closed down yesterday, today's US mood clearly isn't following that same script. Duksan Neolux is still sitting in the red for me, while ConocoPhillips, Microsoft, and Nvidia are all in the green, and into the close I'm just watching whether that inflation weight eventually catches up with the chip strength or not.