Led by AMD, Chip Stocks Rise On Upbeat Industry Report and Trade Optimism

Chip stocks closed higher on Friday amid reports of progress on trade talks and positive industry signals. 

The SOX semiconductor index, which tracks chip stocks, rose 3% on Friday as reports emerged of a possible partial trade truce in the U.S.-China negotiations taking place in Washington DC this week. Many chipmakers have substantial exposure to the Chinese market.

(AMD) - Get Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Report rallied 6% on Friday, partly on a note from Instinet analyst David Wong writing that market share momentum will benefit AMD. The note also cited 8% higher PC shipments last quarter that should help the whole sector. Shares of Micron (MU) - Get Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) Report were up 5.2% late Friday, Intel (INTC) - Get Intel Corporation (INTC) Report was up 2.7% and (NVDA) - Get NVIDIA Corporation Report was up 2.6%.

Chip stocks have outperformed the market this year, with the SOX index up 33% compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average 13% gain. 

Nvidia is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells NVDA? Learn more now.