The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way with a 1.30% gain, with the mid-cap S&P 400 and small-cap Russell 2000 close behind with 1.24% and 1.22% respectively.

The rally in small-caps and mid-caps should not have come as a surprise. They have been the leading indexes this year with the Russell up 20.6% and the S&P 400 up 14.4%. For comparison, the Nasdaq is up 12.8% YTD.

The rally in the Nasdaq also should not have come as much of a surprise. (There is still an AI boom going on after all.) But memory-chip makers had been under pressure lately. However, they showed strength yesterday, with Micron up 4.52%, Sandisk up 7.59%, and Western Digital up 5.04%.

The listing of South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix, as an ADR (American Depository Receipt) on the Nasdaq, also added to the bullish tone. They are the second largest memory-chip maker in South Korea (behind Samsung). They are also #2 in DRAM globally and #4-5 in NAND globally.

In South Korea, SK Hynix trades on the KOSPI Index, which trades on the Korea Exchange (KRX). For reference, the KOSPI is up roughly 100% YTD, while SK Hynix is up more than 230%.

Their listing yesterday was oversubscribed by 7X, meaning 7X more shares were requested (allocation requests) vs. what the company made available.

They begin trading today under the ticker symbol SKHY. And is priced at $149.

In other news, Weekly Jobless Claims were down -2,000 at 215,000.

And Existing Home Sales came in at 4.09 million units (annualized) vs. last month's 4.19M and views for 4.20M. That's a m/m change of -2.4%, and a y/y change of 2.8%.

Not much in the way of economic reports out today, other than the Baker Hughes Rig Count Report.

Next week should be a busy week. On the economic report docket, we'll get the Consumer Price Index (CPI ? retail inflation), and the Producer Price Index (PPI ? wholesale inflation).

Q2 earnings season will also unofficially begin next week when the big banks start reporting.

While Tech is the top weighted sector in the S&P at roughly 32%, Financials are number two with roughly 13% weighting. So all eyes will be on financials next week to see how Q2 earnings look.

Earnings season is always an exciting time since stocks typically go up during earnings season.

The market will also be watching developments in the Middle East. The U.S. launched military strikes against Iran over the last couple of days following their attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump said the ceasefire deal is "over," and that negotiations were a "waste of time." But also said Iran reached out following the strikes, and that "they want to make a deal." So we shall see.

With one more day to go, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are both poised to close higher for the week. And with the other indexes not that far away from getting into the plus column, one good day could have them finish in the green as well.

Best,