• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) saw a remarkable increase of approximately $42 billion in market value as investors placed their bets on the chipmaker benefiting from the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, particularly with ties to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. This surge propelled TSMC's capitalization to a record $575 billion, surpassing Visa Inc. to claim the rank of the world’s 12th most valuable company. The momentum followed Morgan Stanley's upward adjustment of TSMC's price target by approximately 9%, marking the chipmaker's most substantial gain in over a year.

• Taiwan's benchmark index soared to unprecedented heights in response to TSMC's surge. The chipmaker's January sales, which reflected a 7.9% increase, served as a testament to the rebound in global consumer electronics demand, further fueling investor confidence. Concurrently, investors continue to flock to companies poised to leverage the burgeoning AI sector, with OpenAI's unveiling of ChatGPT serving as a catalyst. Nvidia's market capitalization reaching around $1.82 trillion, exceeding that of Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc., further underlined the AI-driven sentiment. This trend, coupled with TSMC's position as a key player in producing high-end chips, underscores the company's promising trajectory in the AI value chain, as highlighted by Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn.