Tensions with US spur Chinese buying of chipmaking stocks

Chinese chipmakers’ shares jumped by the most in two years this week as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan heightened tensions with the US, driving patriotic bets on a sector Beijing sees as key to its rivalry with Washington.
The surge in interest in chipmaking stocks, which had lost more than a third of their value over the past year on valuation concerns, came after the US Senate last week passed the “Chips and Science” Act to better compete with China.
China’s semiconductor index rose 6.8 percent to a four-month high, bringing the week’s gains to 14.2 percent, the best weekly performance since mid-2020.
Although the US Chip Act would further restrict the use of advanced US technologies in China, while prodding more semiconductor investment in the US, some investors interpret it as good news for local Chinese players.