Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs Norway's $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, posted a record first-half profit of nearly $185 billion as its equity-heavy portfolio returned 12.95%, reversing a 2.6% first-quarter drop with a 15.98% second-quarter surge. CEO Nicolai Tangen said markets had been unexpectedly resilient despite the U.S.-Iran war, inflation pressure, trade barriers and tension around the Hormuz Strait (key oil shipping route), but warned investors should not expect the same returns over the next six months. He said the gains were heavily concentrated in semiconductor stocks including Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, ASML, Intel and Nvidia, while stressing that the fund would stay "index-near" (closely tracking a benchmark) rather than take profits or rebalance. Tangen said long-term, diversified investing remains the right approach, even though any broad market downturn would hit a fund that owns roughly 1.5% of listed companies globally, about 3% in Europe, and supports around 25% of Norway's fiscal budget.