** Shares of U.S. chipmakers rise after Federal Reserve cuts interest rates
** Shares of AI chip bellwether Nvidia NVDA.O up 1.3%, rival AMD AMD.O up 1%
** Fed cuts interest rates by half of a percentage point
** Rate cuts are expected to help allay some concerns over Big Tech pulling back on hefty AI investments, a large chunk of which is funneled to chipmakers
** Networking chipmakers Broadcom AVGO.O and Marvell Technology MRVL.O rise 2.5% and 0.9%, respectively, while smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm QCOM.O adds 1.8%; U.S.-listed shares of Arm Holdings ARM.O up 3.5%
** U.S.-listed shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing TSM.N up 2%
** Intel INTC.O edges higher, while memory chipmaker Micron Technology MU.O down 0.3%
** Analog and automotive chipmakers Texas Instruments TXN.O, Analog Devices ADI.O and NXP Semiconductors NXPI.O up between 0.6% and 2%
** Rate cuts would ease some of the pressure on capital intensive chip fab development and expansion projects
** Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX has added close to 20% YTD
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa)
((ArsheeyaSingh.Bajwa@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8510015800))