Chips Lean on the Tape, Staples Hold the Floor: Ten Minutes In, Indexes Barely Move

As of 09:40 ET, the S&P 500 sits at 7,811.97 (+0.06%) and the Nasdaq at 27,241.23 (-0.02%), basically treading water just after the open. Against the 04:40 brief, the S&P 500 is +0.15%p and the Nasdaq +0.39%p different. No point retelling the last hour's story; I'm just noting how far things have moved.

Chips slip, staples and energy hold the floor

The Nasdaq is hovering around zero because major chip names were broadly lower even before the open, on news of Chinese memory makers closing in. Sector flow, meanwhile, shows consumer staples and energy strong while clean energy and aerospace are weak, which is keeping the S&P 500 just barely green. The dollar index at 102.58 (+0.36%) and USD/KRW at 1,342.99 (+0.29%) both rising tells me the market is still keeping its head down.

Korea's shock didn't cross the ocean

The last Korean session (10/13 close) is already in the books: KOSPI -5.46%, KOSDAQ -1.43%, with Samsung Electronics down 7.39% to 232,000 won. The US tape opened calmly instead of inheriting that drop, so for now I'll say it has gone against the grain. My disclosed holdings stand at Microsoft +38.9%, NVIDIA +5.6%, Freeport-McMoRan +8.7% and Amazon -8.5% in valuation P&L. That's accumulated record, not today's move.

There are 6 hours 20 minutes left to the close. While the big banks' Q3 results, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs among them, get digested, I'm watching whether chip weakness spreads to the whole index or staples and energy keep holding the floor. I'll keep an eye on the dollar index too.