Taiwan bourse last quoted at 41,917 this morning (11th), up 313 points or about 0.75%. Global chip foundry leader TSMC (2330.TT) bucked the trend, sagging 1.5% to TWD2,255.

Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) and Intel Corporation (INTC.US) reached a preliminary agreement under which Intel will manufacture certain chips used to power Apple devices, the Wall Street Journal cited informed sources over the weekend as saying.

The two companies reportedly engaged in intensive negotiations for more than a year and finalized a formal agreement in recent months.

Major Asia-Pacific chip stocks thrived broadly this morning. SMIC (00981.HK) and HUA HONG SEMI (01347.HK) each spiked about 5%. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) surged 5.7% and 11.2%, respectively, both notching record highs. In Japan, Kioxia (285A.JP) rallied 7.6% to a new high. MediaTek (2454.TW) in Taiwan also jumped up 8.8% to a record high.
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AASTOCKS Financial News
Website: www.aastocks.com

SG Top Picks
Stock & Type	Code	Strike(Call Level)	Last	Effective Gearing
SMIC (C)	13043	110.98 (-)	0.037	5.6 X
SMIC (C)	26354	91.93 (-)	0.171	4.4 X
SMIC (C)	26591	83.93 (-)	0.265	3.5 X
SMIC (P)	29863	74 (-)	0.131	2.0 X
SMIC (P)	28871	62 (-)	0.073	3.9 X
SMIC (Bull)	63234	74.4 (75)	0.080	10.2 X
SMIC (Bull)	61517	69.4 (70)	0.132	6.2 X
SMIC (Bear)	62695	95.6 (95)	0.118	6.9 X
SMIC (Bear)	63821	90.6 (90)	0.080	10.2 X
HUAHO (C)	29513	159.88 (-)	0.290	2.9 X
HUAHO (C)	24952	140.09 (-)	0.255	3.7 X
HUAHO (P)	29890	108 (-)	0.139	2.1 X
HUAHO (P)	28874	88 (-)	0.047	3.2 X
HUAHO (Bull)	64582	140.2 (142)	0.017	17.4 X
HUAHO (Bull)	63719	130.2 (132)	0.040	7.4 X
HUAHO (Bear)	63763	176.8 (175)	0.051	5.8 X
HUAHO (Bear)	64585	167.8 (166)	0.037	8.0 X
APPLE (C)	11132	300 (-)	0.430	6.9 X
APPLE (P)	11063	248 (-)	0.069	8.5 X