-- Tech stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) each adding 2%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2.6%.
In corporate news, Sportradar (SRAD) shares fell 24% after Muddy Waters Research and Callisto Research published short reports on the company.
Tongyang Life Insurance (KRX:082640) plans to retire about 5.3 million treasury shares, valued at 46.7 billion won, according to a Friday filing with the Korea Exchange.The shares will be retired on April 30 at a par value of 5,000 won apiece.Shares of Tongyang Life Insurance rose more than 1% at market close.
Huadong Medicine's (SHE:000963) attributable profit rose 9.6% to 1.00 billion yuan in the first quarter from 914.7 million yuan in the year-ago period, according to a Friday filing with the Shenzhen bourse.Earnings per share at the drug maker increased to 0.5715 yuan from 0.5213 yuan in the prior-year period.Operating income grew 4.2% year over year to 11.2 billion yuan from 10.7 billion yuan.Shares increased 3% during afternoon trading on Friday.
Producer prices in Spain rose 3.4% year over year in March, following a revised 6.9% decrease previously, data from the National Statistics Institute showed Friday.On a monthly basis, the industrial price index was 6.5% higher, after a revised 3% decline in February.