Taiwan's stock market opened sharply higher and is closing in on its record high, good news for chip investors but a sign of how much the whole market now rides on AI demand.

• The index gained close to 700 points, back over 47,000, led by TSMC and MediaTek.
• Memory chip makers were the hottest group, with Nanya Technology up more than 5%.
• Foreign investors poured money in, buying heavily in the previous session.
• Strong US jobs numbers pushed bets on a Fed rate hike this month up to 60%, lifting US bond yields and knocking Wall Street's main indices lower even as chip stocks soared.
• Micron faces a growing labor fight in Taiwan, where union membership passed 10,000 and workers are threatening to strike over bonuses that lag Samsung and SK Hynix despite profits jumping tenfold.

Outlook: The AI-driven chip rally has room to retest the record high, but a Fed rate hike and rising bond yields are the near-term risk.