Global chip stocks from Nvidia to ASML fall on geopolitics, Trump comments

Global
chip
stocks
fell
sharply,
with


ASML,


Nvidia
and


TSMC

posting
declines
amid
reports
of
tighter
export
restrictions
from
the
U.S.
and
a
ramp-up
of
geopolitical
tensions
fueled
by
comments
from
former
U.S.
President

Donald
Trump.

ASML’s
Netherlands-listed
shares
were
down
11%,
while


Tokyo
Electron
shares
in
Japan
closed
nearly
7.5%
lower.


Arm,


AMD,


Marvell,


Qualcomm
and


Broadcom
closed
down
more
than
7%.

The
moves
came
after

Bloomberg
on
Wednesday
reported
that
the
Biden
administration
is
considering
a
wide-sweeping
rule
to
clamp
down
on
companies
exporting
their
critical
chipmaking
equipment
to
China.

Washington’s
foreign
direct
product
rule,
or
FDPR,
allows
the
U.S.
to
put
controls
on
foreign-made
products
even
if
they
use
the
smallest
amount
of
American
technology.
This
can
affect
non-U.S.
companies.

CNBC
has
reached
out
to
the
U.S.
State
Department,
the
Bureau
of
Industry
and
Security,
and
the
Office
of
the
U.S.
Trade
Representative
for
comment
on
the
report.

The
remarks
have
thrown
doubt
over
the
U.S.
commitment
to
defend
Taiwan
if
Trump
becomes
president
and
in
the
event
of
an
attack
by
China,
which
sees
the
democratically
governed
island
as
part
of
its
territory.

The
Taiwan-listed
shares
of
Taiwan
Semiconductor
Manufacturing
Co.
closed
down
2.4%
on
Wednesday.

The
geopolitical
tensions
also
weighed
on
chip
stocks
in
the
U.S.
The


VanEck
Semiconductor
ETF
closed
down
over
7%.


Super
Micro
Computer
and


Applied
Materials
were
among
the
other
U.S.-listed
laggards
in
trading.