(Reuters) -Shares of ASML (ASML, ASML.AS) and its peers in Europe’s computer chip equipment sector rose on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that looming U.S. restrictions on China’s semiconductor industry may be less severe than expected.
Shares of ASML rose 4.3% by 0809 GMT, with Dutch rivals BE Semiconductor (BESI.AS) and ASM International (ASM.AS, ASMIY) up 5% and 2.9% respectively, among the top performers the European benchmark STOXX 600 index. (^STOXX).
The Bloomberg report, citing unnamed sources, said major Chinese memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc (CXMT) would not be added to US trade restriction lists, adding that the timing and content of the decision is not certain.
The U.S. Commerce Department is monitoring U.S. restrictions on Chinese exports and is expected to issue new guidelines after Thanksgiving.
ASML, the largest supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, declined to comment. At an investor day two weeks ago, the company said it expects sales of its tools to China to fall to 20% of total sales by 2025, down from nearly 50% in the previous six quarters.
Other top computer equipment suppliers include Applied Materials (AMAT), KLA Corp (KLAC), Lam Research (LRCX) and Tokyo Electron (TOELY, 8035.T).
(Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, editing by Milla Nissi and David Goodman)
