European shares rise as Nvidia’s forecast boosts chip stocks

European shares rose on Thursday, after two straight sessions of declines, as U.S. semiconductor designer Nvidia’s positive sales forecast sparked a rally in chip stocks.

The broader Europe STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.2%, with the technology sector (.SX8P) jumping 1.4%.

Chipmakers ASM International (ASMI.AS), BE Semiconductor (BESI.AS) and Aixtron (AIXGn.DE) rose between 1.3% and 2.8%, reported Reuters.

Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) forecast first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, noting a strong boost from the use of its chips in artificial intelligence (AI) services such as chatbots.

The shorter-term demand for chips will get a boost to fuel “an AI gold rush, if you think such a phenomenon will actually materialize,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive at

AXS Investments.

Engineering firm Rolls-Royce (RR.L) surged 18.0%, to the top of the STOXX 600, after the company’s CEO forecast more profit growth in 2023 after last year’s profit beat expectations.

Media stocks (.SXMP) were up 0.9%, boosted by a 4.8% rise in British ad group WPP (WPP.L) after it forecast better-than-expected organic growth of 3% to 5% for the year.

However, the worries of central banks raising interest rates for longer still lingered.