By Mauro Orru
Global semiconductor stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, extending losses from last week as investors digest the extent of President Trump's tariffs on chip-making hubs like Taiwan and other Asian countries with big electronics-assembly operations.
President Trump said last week that the U.S. was imposing tariffs of 32% on Taiwan and 34% on China. Beijing fired back with its own 34% levy on U.S. goods, while Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said his government wouldn't retaliate, hoping to negotiate with Washington to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs.
The announcements sent global markets tumbling Thursday and Friday, wiping out $6.6 trillion in U.S. stocks across sectors. That market rout intensified on Monday, with semiconductor stocks extending losses from last week.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chip maker, closed 10% lower. Japanese chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron also shed 10%, while shares of South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix--which supplies Nvidia--closed nearly 9.6% lower.
Meanwhile, shares of Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding and smaller rival ASM International are down more than 4% in European afternoon trading. German chip maker Infineon Technologies is down nearly 6%, while STMicroelectronics--which supplies Apple, Samsung Electronics and Tesla--is down over 3%.
In the U.S., Nvidia shares are down 2% premarket, with Intel stock down 2.6%.
The prolonged rout underscores concerns among investors that tariffs could lead to higher prices for chips and subdue electronics demand if producers choose to pass any extra costs on to customers. Some analysts also fear tariffs could weigh on Big Tech's artificial-intelligence push.
"The AI revolution trade would be significantly slowed down by these head-scratching tariffs that need to be negotiated to realistic levels," Wedbush analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 07, 2025 07:31 ET (11:31 GMT)
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