TSMC earnings draw investors’ eyes back to AI

Thursday offered markets a rare respite from nonstop geopolitical upheaval. Yet the week’s headlines still reflected larger global dynamics.

Case in point: Taiwan’s $250 billion investment in chip production in the U.S. is not just a commercial move for the participating companies, but also part of a sweeping trade deal with Washington. It’ll see the U.S. lowering tariffs on Taiwanese imports to 15% from 20%, and removing them altogether on other products, such as generic pharmaceuticals and aircraft components.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has already bought land and could expand in Arizona as part of this deal, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in an interview Thursday.

The world’s leading contract chipmaker also announced blowout earnings on Thursday, posting a 35% increase in fourth-quarter profit on the year, giving it eight consecutive quarters of year-over-year profit growth. TSMC also said it’s raising its expected capital expenditure for 2026, indicating that demand for artificial intelligence remains high this year.

This wave of optimism helped power stock markets higher. Semiconductor and AI-related stocks such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Applied Materials advanced in the U.S., while European producers of chip-making equipment, such as ASML and ASM International, also climbed.  

Better-than-expected earnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also boosted performance in U.S. markets.

Oil prices slid after U.S. President Donald Trump said he could hold off on attacking Iran, easing a major source of near-term risk.

But tensions remain elsewhere. Several NATO nations announced they’ve deployed troops to Greenland as part of a joint exercise to bolster Arctic security. These movements follow strained transatlantic discussions over U.S. proposals to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory — a suggestion that has unsettled European partners and raised fundamental questions about the alliance.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

Oil markets are being pulled in every direction. Here’s how market watchers are navigating it

Energy markets have been rocked by volatility in recent days, as investors weigh a violent crackdown on civil unrest in oil-rich Iran — and the response from Washington.

However, Ed Bell, acting chief economist and group head of research at Emirates NBD, one of the UAE’s biggest lenders, told CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Thursday that, though markets were watching the situation closely, little had actually changed.

— Chloe Taylor and Sam Meredith