Here's Why Semiconductor ETFs Are Hitting 52-Week Highs

Group 1: Semiconductor Sector Performance - The semiconductor sector has been performing well, with various ETFs reaching 52-week highs, including S&P Semiconductor SPDR (XSD), Dynamic Semiconductors Invesco ETF (PSI), and others, gaining between 8% to 14% over the past month [1] Group 2: AI Investments in the UK - Major tech companies, including Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Alphabet, are planning over $40 billion in new AI investments in the UK, with Microsoft committing $30 billion from 2025 to 2028 [2] - NVIDIA announced a £11 billion ($15 billion) investment in the UK, marking its largest deployment of 120,000 Blackwell GPU chips in Europe [3] - Google revealed a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment in UK AI development and opened a new data center near London [4] Group 3: NVIDIA's Strategic Investments - NVIDIA is investing $5 billion in Intel to co-develop data center and PC chips, leading to a 22.8% surge in Intel's shares, marking its best day in 38 years [5] - NVIDIA joins SoftBank and the U.S. government in supporting Intel's turnaround, with the U.S. government acquiring a 10% stake and SoftBank investing $2 billion [6] - NVIDIA plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with a strategic partnership to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA chips for AI infrastructure, starting in the second half of 2026 [7] Group 4: Quantum Computing Developments - Rigetti Computing secured a three-year $5.8 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to advance superconducting quantum networking, partnering with Dutch startup QphoX [8] Group 5: Market Implications - The semiconductor sector's growth is supported by its critical role in AI and quantum technologies, justifying the rally in ETFs like XSD, SOXX, and SMH [9]