Shares in chip equipment giant ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) jumped 6% after reports emerged that Dutch companies should be exempt from US restrictions on Chinese exports.
Tokyo Electron also surged 7.4% on the reports, with Japan one of the other countries exempted.
The White House is set to expand its existing exclusion rules on foreign products but will exclude more than 30 close allies, reports said, including the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea, according to Reuters reports.
As a result, the rules will mostly block Chinese chipmakers from receiving semiconductor manufacturing equipment from countries including Israel and Singapore.
Rules are still in draft form and could still change, the report said.
Both ASML and Tokyo Electron had been caught up in chatter earlier this month about the US getting tougher over technology going to China.
"The tech sector might have experienced some choppy sessions of late, but sometimes it only takes one small nugget of good news to win over investors," said analysts at AJ Bell.
"The Biden administration is worried that China is still getting its hands on advanced technology that could be deployed by its military, hence talk of a fierce clampdown on foreign kit reaching its shores."