QQQ slips 0.17% but leads SPY as consumer weakness, Hormuz risk and an AI-financing reset emerge

By 04:00 ET, QQQ was down 0.17% and SPY 0.24% after both opened higher, leaving QQQ 0.07 percentage point ahead. Core retail sales missed estimates and Michigan sentiment weakened as inflation expectations rose. Strait of Hormuz claims and vessel attacks kept shipping risk in focus into the night. Nvidia's reported SpaceX and Intel holdings added one AI-capital link, while an overnight report said Nvidia and OpenAI cut the proposed guarantee for an Ohio data-center project from $250 billion to less than $120 billion.