Best Quarter for Chip Stocks, Yen Steadies

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Chip stocks posted their best quarter ever, extending an extraordinary start to the year driven by insatiable demand for artificial intelligence equipment. But after recent jitters sent the stocks tumbling, investors are wondering how much further the rally can go.  "The story of the past six months is the market going all-in on AI infrastructure, but now people are asking if this is sustainable and if we should be worried," said CJ Muse, senior managing director and technology analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index jumped 3.9% on Tuesday to bring its second-quarter gain to 88%, its best quarter ever. It soared 101% in the first half, putting it on track for its best year in its history. In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 28% in the second quarter, while the S&P 500 Index rose 15%. It was both of their best quarters since 2020, but the performances were dwarfed by the surge in chip stocks. We speak to Lianting Tu, Bloomberg's Managing Editor for Asia Equities.

Plus - The yen traded around 162.65 per dollar after falling to a 40-year low this week. The currency's slide to a four-decade low against the dollar left traders eyeing Japan's next intervention threshold. After the currency weakened past the 162 per dollar level on Tuesday, strategists increasingly pointed to 163 and beyond, arguing the Finance Ministry may tolerate a weaker yen than it did in 2024. Bloomberg TV hosts Yvonne Man and Avril Hong spoke to Christopher Wong, Executive Director and FX Strategist at OCBC.

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