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Sector Update: Tech Stocks Higher Late Afternoon

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-- Tech stocks rose late Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gaining 0.3% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) advancing 4.5%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2%.

In sector news, Anthropic is considering a new funding round that could value the company at more than $900 billion, potentially surpassing OpenAI as the world's most valuable AI startup, Bloomberg reported.

In corporate news, Qualcomm's (QCOM) shares jumped 15% in Thursday trading, a day after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Meta Platforms (META) fell past 7% after the company overnight raised its forecast for 2026 capital expenditures, overshadowing its Q1 earnings and revenue beat.

Alphabet's (GOOGL) shares climbed 9% after the company overnight reported higher Q1 earnings and revenue that topped market expectations.

Microsoft (MSFT) said Wednesday that it expects capital expenditures of $190 billion for the 2026 calendar year, including roughly $25 billion from higher component pricing. Its shares fell 3.8%.

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