AEX edges higher as Dutch chip shares extend gains

Amsterdam’s AEX closed 0.2% higher on Tuesday at 1,132.44 points, as Dutch chipmakers extended gains after a recent sell-off in AI-related shares. The modest rise came amid attention on Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, US inflation and AI company Anthropic’s planned share offering.

ASML, ASMI and Besi rose by as much as 2.6%, building on Monday’s gains. Nvidia shares, by contrast, fell in New York amid continuing scrutiny of Huang. Nvidia’s board has said it is investigating reports about him, while the FBI is also investigating, according to Dutch news agency ANP. Shareholders have filed a lawsuit against Nvidia and Huang, alleging that they misled investors.

The AEX had risen 0.8% on Monday. The MidKap index gained 0.4% on Tuesday, closing at 1,123.96 points after a 1.2% rise the previous day. Paris and Frankfurt ended up by as much as 0.6%, while London fell 0.3%.

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, said its proposed share offering would be priced at between $70 and $78 a share. It could take place as early as next week, and the company expects to raise more than $64 billion. Its market value could be about $1.4 trillion at listing.

US inflation was slightly higher than expected in October, ANP reported, increasing the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate rise in December. Shell fell 2% after Spain’s Santander removed it from its recommended-buy list, while oil prices also declined. Smaller Dutch-listed company Kendrion dropped 10% after reporting quarterly results.

The AEX’s move was a modest gain, with chip shares among the strongest performers as the market weighed developments in AI and the outlook for US interest rates.