US Stock Market Move | Semiconductor equipment stocks rise, Applied Materials (AMAT.US) up nearly 10% to hit a record high.

On Monday, semiconductor equipment stocks in the US stock market rose. Applied Materials (AMAT.US) rose nearly 10%, reaching a historic new high, with a gain of over 50% this month. KLA Corporation (KLAC.US) rose over 7%, and Lam Research Corporation (LRCX.US) rose nearly 6%. In terms of news, the South Korean government announced on Monday the country's largest investment plan in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industry. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung presided over the launch of the "Three Major Super Projects" and announced plans to invest about 80 trillion Korean won in constructing four chip factories in the southwest region. Samsung Electronics will be responsible for building two of the factories, with the goal of doubling the DRAM production capacity in five years. With such a large capital expenditure, the first step will inevitably be to purchase equipment to set up production lines. Whether it is "front-end equipment" for manufacturing wafers or "back-end equipment" crucial to the performance of AI chips, global top equipment suppliers will directly benefit from this wave of expansion.