New Zealand Q2 labour cost index YoY 2.1% vs 2.0% expected, 2.0% prior.

Infineon said on Wednesday it expects revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter ended September of about €4.7 bln (US$5.4 bln), versus analysts' average forecast of €4.6 bln, driven by stronger demand and higher pricing for data-center chips. CEO Jochen Hanebeck said demand for power solutions serving AI data centers remains robust and will continue to be the company’s primary growth driver. The upbeat guidance could ease concerns about the sustainability of the AI spending surge and competitive pressure. Investors have recently sold off chip names despite rivals Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and NXP Semiconductors raising profit forecasts; Infineon shares are up 69% year-to-date.

U.S. chip stocks rose in premarket trading: Micron Technology (MU.O), SanDisk (SNDK.O) and Intel (INTC.O) gained more than 3%, while SK Hynix (SKHY.O) and Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) were up over 2%.