TSMC earnings return investor attention to AI

Thursday gave markets a rare respite from the constant geopolitical upheaval. Still, the week’s headlines still reflected larger global trends.

Case in point: Taiwan’s $250 billion investment in chip production in the U.S. is not just a commercial vehicle for participating companies, but also part of a broader trade agreement with the U.S. government. The United States plans to reduce tariffs on Taiwanese imports from 20% to 15%, and completely eliminate tariffs on other products such as generic drugs and aircraft parts.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in an interview Thursday that the company has already purchased land and could expand into Arizona as part of the deal.

The world’s leading contract chip maker also announced explosive profits on Thursday, with fourth-quarter profits up 35% year over year and the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year profit growth. TSMC also announced an increase in expected capital spending for 2026, showing that demand for artificial intelligence remains strong this year.

This wave of optimism contributed to the stock market’s rise. Semiconductor and AI related stocks, etc. Nvidia, advanced micro device and applied materials It is advanced in the United States, but in Europe, ASML and ASM Internationalalso climbed.

Better-than-expected profits from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also boosted U.S. market performance.

Oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump said he might refrain from attacking Iran, reducing a key factor in short-term risk.

But tensions persist elsewhere. Several NATO countries announced they have sent troops to Greenland as part of joint exercises to strengthen Arctic security. These moves follow tense transatlantic debates over a US proposal to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, which has upset European partners and raised fundamental questions about the alliance.

—CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

The oil market is being pulled in all directions. How market watchers are navigating this situation

Energy markets have been rocked by volatility in recent days as investors weigh the U.S. government’s response to a violent crackdown on the civil war in oil-rich Iran.

But Ed Bell, acting chief economist and head of research group at Emirates NBD, one of the UAE’s largest financial institutions, told CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Thursday that while markets were monitoring the situation, little had actually changed.

— Chloe Taylor and Sam Meredith