Yesterday, equity indices finished with solid gains. The S&P 500 rose by 0.81%, and the Nasdaq 100 jumped by 1.30%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average strengthened by 0.27%.

Asian markets closed the week with strong gains, and AI optimism once again outweighed geopolitical concerns. The MSCI Asia Pacific index climbed by 1.7%, cutting weekly losses to less than 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.9%, approaching its best week in over a year, while South Korea's KOSPI, a barometer of AI investment, rallied by 5%.

The renewed appetite for tech is primarily explained by dip buying after the week-start correction. Recall that earlier in the week, investors were unimpressed even by Samsung's 19-fold profit surge, which helped trigger the tech sell-off and renewed overheating concerns around the AI rally. Sentiment has already reversed: many concluded that the recent sell-off was somewhat excessive and did not fully reflect the sector's strong profits. Investors apparently decided that, despite lingering valuation concerns, tech stocks still offer the best prospects for revenue and earnings growth in the current environment.

An additional catalyst came from Micron. The company said it plans to raise capital spending for new US fabs to $250bn to meet AI-driven demand. Micron shares rose by 1.1% in after-hours trading. This is further evidence memory makers are aggressively expanding capacity, betting on durable demand.

In the forex market, the yen was the main story. Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she would encourage pension funds to increase allocations to domestic financial assets, which pushed the currency higher. The yen strengthened by 0.5% to roughly 161.65 per dollar, and long-dated JGBs also rose.

Geopolitics remains tense but is noticeably less alarming to markets than at the start of the week. Technical talks between the US and Iran continue despite two days of clashes that threatened the fragile truce. A US official confirmed on Thursday that Washington remains committed to seeking a solution.

Oil stabilized near $76.70/bbl after traders concluded the conflict is unlikely to trigger broader supply disruptions. Treasuries gained, and the 10-year yield eased one basis point to 4.54%.

Technically, the daily chart suggests that the immediate task for buyers is to overcome the resistance level of $7,544. Doing so would confirm upside and open the path to $7,574. Maintaining control above $7,600 would further strengthen buyers' positions. On the downside, buyers need to defend $7,518. A break below that level would likely push the index back to $7,494 and open the way to $7,474.