This is good news for Taiwan's industrial supply chain, with an elevator maker's upcoming listing and several market moves showing AI-driven manufacturing demand is spreading beyond chipmakers.

• Hongwei Electric, which makes industrial and cleanroom elevators, plans to list in mid-November, backed by orders that have doubled and now stretch out three years, with over half tied to semiconductor factory buildouts.
• Profit margins are rising as more of its business shifts to higher-value custom equipment and maintenance contracts, and it's expanding into Southeast Asia to follow customers building new overseas plants.
• Taiwan's stock market closed slightly higher but stayed volatile, still below a key technical level, as Middle East tensions push up oil prices and raise worries about inflation and interest rates.
• The Taiwan dollar has been weakening as foreign investors pulled billions out of the country since July, adding pressure on the currency.
• Memory chip stocks bounced back on hopes that oversupply is easing and prices are stabilizing, while chip foundry stocks are expected to benefit from rising prices and strong AI-related demand.

Outlook: Hongwei's listing and strong order backlog point to continued strength in AI-linked manufacturing, though broader Taiwan markets remain shaky due to global energy and rate pressures.