Nvidia and other chip stocks jump as tariff fears ease

Chip stocks were among the market leaders on Wednesday thanks to President Donald Trump’s statement the day before that tariffs on China “will come down substantially,” as well as vote of confidence by famed investor Cathie Wood.

Wood’s Ark Investment Management bought up stock in several chipmakers on Tuesday, including $1.1 million shares of Nvidia (NVDA+0.54%). On Wednesday, Nvidia jumped more than 5%, approaching its 21-day moving average.

Palintir Technologies (PLTR+6.03%) also had a strong performance Wednesday, rising more than 7%, while Super Micro Computer (SMCI+0.90%) shot up by 10.2% during the day, AMD (AMD+2.02%) rose 8.1%, Micron (MU+2.76%) jumped 6.8%, and Broadcom (AVGO-1.52%) more than 7%.

Although semiconductors and other electronics are currently exempt from steep U.S. tariffs on goods imported from China, administration officials have said those exemptions are temporary, and tariffs would probably be imposed on the sector in a month or two. Those threats have weighed heavily on chip stocks in recent days, but late Tuesday Trump said those tariffs “will come down substantially” and he intends to be “very nice” to China in trade negotiations.

As a result, the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which tracks the 30 largest U.S.-listed companies in the semiconductor sector, was up about 4% in trading on Wednesday.