** Chip gear maker's shares  AMAT.O  surge 8.6% to an
all-time high after company gives strong revenue forecast; Leads
gains on Philadelphia Semiconductor index  .SOX 
    ** AMAT on course for best day since April 2020, while peers
Lam Research  LRCX.O  and KLA Corp  KLAC.O  up 3.9% and 3.6%,
respectively   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KO49Z
    ** SOX index up 2.8% to trade just below all-time highs, set
to snap two days of declines
    ** LED and chip maker Cree Inc  CREE.O  jumps 6.6%, also
among the top gainers in the index, after it completes $500 mln
at-the-market equity program  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KP1M0
    ** SOX index hit a record high earlier this week and is up
~63% in the past year, helped by a coronavirus-induced surge in
sale of PCs, gaming consoles and a global shortage of
semiconductors

 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru)
 ((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com))