Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD Lead Chip-Sector Rally on Rate-Cut Hopes

Aug 22 - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at Jackson Hole swung sentiment Friday, prompting a broad rally in semiconductor names as markets priced a possible rate cut in September if incoming data supports it. Investors bid up chipmakers on the prospect of easier financial conditions that could boost capital spending on AI and infrastructure.

Nvidia NVDA and Advanced Micro Devices AMD each rose about 2% as traders bought into AI demand resilience. Broadcom AVGO and Qualcomm (QCOM) climbed roughly 3% on the day, while NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC), GlobalFoundries (GFS) and STMicroelectronics (STM) popped near 5% each. Texas Instruments (TXN) and Intel (INTC) gained nearly 4%, and Micron MU and Marvell MRVL moved up about 3%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing TSM added roughly 2%.

Chip-equipment stocks also outperformed; Applied Materials AMAT, Lam Research (LRCX) and ASML ASML rose about 3% apiece, and KLA KLAC gained near 2% as investors bet on a pickup in fab spending should rates ease.

The response from the market reflects just how gentle semiconductor demand is to macro cues. Traders will monitor incoming economic data and company guidance to see whether Powell does in fact signal a loosening of Fed policy, which will benefit chip companies specialized in AI and manufacturing.