Digesting the Hike, Afternoon Gains Hold

Right now the S&P 500 sits at 7,635.91, up 1.11%, and the Nasdaq's at 26,393.06, up 1.60%, with an hour and fifty minutes left before the close. Compared to my last brief at 01:40, that's only another +0.04 points on the S&P and +0.02 on the Nasdaq — so the afternoon is basically holding onto the gains I already had this morning, not adding much on top.

Since the Fed hiked rates to 3.75-4.00% yesterday (9/16), today's tape has been about digesting that shock and trying to claw back some ground. Cybersecurity names are leading the strength while utilities and financials lag behind, and the dollar's firming up too — the dollar index at 100.31 (+0.66%) and the won at 1,363.57 per dollar (+1.33%) — both leaning into that tighter policy stance. Compared with the prior Korean session, where the KOSPI barely moved (-0.04%) and the KOSDAQ ticked up modestly (+0.76%), today's move in New York looks a lot more decisive.

For the last stretch into the close, I'm watching whether this gain holds and whether the debate over another year-end hike (put at 37.2% odds for 50bp more) starts to rattle the mood late in the session. For the record, my public holdings currently show HD Hyundai Electric at -9.0%, Amazon at -12.2%, Alphabet at -7.7%, and Vertex at -3.1% in unrealized P&L.