Major indices have changed little from their baselines, with the Nasdaq maintaining its hold in the green.  The marginal move comes as 6 of the Magnificent Seven names are moving lower, as Nvidia (NVDA) is the lone name in the green.

Energy (XLE) is in the lead and getting a boost from Iranian tensions causing energy commodities to edge higher. Technology (XLK) is the runner up and getting a boost from semiconductor names after several notable developments (more below).  Memory names are making a move higher due in part to Howard Lutnick’s comments last week that the administration told Apple (AAPL) it opposes them buying Chinese memory chips.

On the other hand, Communication Services (XLC) is at the bottom of the list, due largely to Meta Platforms (META) underperforming on continued concerns regarding its youth safety trial.  Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow in Oakland.

The defensive sector of Consumer Staples (XLP) is also vying for the bottom spot on the list.         

While Technology as a whole is moving higher, software (IGV) is the weak spot in the sector, as the group consolidates near its June peak.

Building on the deal we covered this morning, Nvidia (NVDA) disclosed in the accompanying filing that it will guarantee up to $105 billion of conditional lease and power payments tied to the OpenAI campus in Ohio, its largest commitment of this kind to date.

The AI startup Grog raised $350M, with Nvidia also acting as an investor in this round after previously licensing Gros’s technology and hiring founder Jonathan Ross and other employees.

In other AI news, OpenAI is making a move to let users buy products directly in ChatGPT using store-branded credit card in partnership with Synchrony (SYF). The full integration is expected to take between 6-12 months and there are reports that Synchrony is also in talks for similar arrangements with Anthropic and Alphabet (GOOG/L).