Chip Stocks' Rally Approaches Record High on Trade Deal Hopes
Chip Stocks Rally to Within 4% of Record on Trade Deal Hopes
(Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor stocks extended a market-leading rally into an eighth week on Monday after comments from U.S. and Chinese officials raised hopes of a potential trade deal between the world’s two biggest economies.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index gained as much as 2 percent, outperforming all sectors in the S&P 500 Index, led by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and NXP Semiconductors Monday. The 30-member benchmark has surged 30 percent since Christmas, despite the worst quarter for sales in a decade. The Philadelphia index is now just 4 percent shy of a March record.
The semiconductor industry has been affected by slowing demand from a broad range of customers that began in the second half of 2018. It’s one of of the most heavily exposed industries to China, which is the biggest consumer of semiconductors, and home to a key portion of the electronics supply chain.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm
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