TAIPEI (Reuters) -TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a 60.7% jump in second-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating market forecasts and hitting a historic high as it benefited from surging demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, saw April-June net profit rise to T$398.3 billion ($13.53 billion).

The profit handily beat a T$377.9 billion LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

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