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Sector Update: Tech Stocks Gain Monday Afternoon

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Tech stocks were higher Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rising 2.5% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) climbing 3.3%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index added 3.8%.

In corporate news, Priority Technology (PRTH) shares surged 33% after the company agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by its CEO Thomas Priore in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of about $1.6 billion.

Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google said Monday its new Googlebook laptop is available for pre-orders. The laptop is designed for Gemini Intelligence and engineered to work with Android phones, it said. Alphabet shares rose 1.9%.

Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic is now targeting an initial public offering in November, later than the previously expected launch in October, The Wall Street Journal reported. Anthropic plans to meet prospective investors in the coming days to evaluate interest in the potential IPO, the report said, citing the sources. Amazon shares rose 1.8%.

Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI and Amazon-backed Anthropic risk losing revenue as rising AI costs drive more companies toward open-weight AI to create custom models with their own data, Bloomberg reported. Investors such as Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst are supporting the trend, which provides enterprises a cheaper alternative to the higher-cost models from OpenAI and Anthropic, while giving them more control over their technology, according to the report. Microsoft shares were up 1%.

What else is happening in Sectors?

Sectors

Sector Update: Financial Stocks Mixed Late Afternoon

Financial stocks were mixed in late Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index declining 0.5% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) fractionally higher.The Philadelphia Housing Index dropped 1.3%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) shed 0.7%.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 5.9% to $81,042, and the yield on 10-year US Treasuries gained 5.7 basis points to 5%.In economic news, US industrial production last month unexpectedly held steady as manufacturing output fell after rising for seven straight months, Federal Reserve data showed. That followed a 0.2% gain in July. The consensus was for a 0.3% increase in August in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.State-level data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the unemployment rate fell in eight states and Washington, D.C., in August while holding steady elsewhere. The national unemployment rate was reported at 4.1% in August, the same as in July.In corporate news, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) said Warren Buffett stepped down as chairman, with his son Howard Buffett succeeding the 96-year-old billionaire. Berkshire Hathaway Class A and Class B shares were little changed.BlackRock (BLK) is poised to be selected as the preferred manager for a portfolio of Dutch pension assets close to 70 billion euros ($80.2 billion), Bloomberg reported. BlackRock shares gained 1.5%.Blackstone (BX) has secured a loan to help fund its acquisition of a controlling stake in data center cooling firm Flow Control from Audax Private Equity, Bloomberg reported. UBS (UBS) has been tasked with providing the loan, the report said, adding that the loan is expected to launch in the coming weeks. Blackstone shares were down 0.5%, and UBS was 0.2% higher.Prudential Financial's (PRU) indirect subsidiary New Veld agreed to sell its entire stake in South Africa-listed Alexander Forbes Group, known as Alexforbes, in deals valued at $185 million. Prudential shares added 0.5%.

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Sectors

Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

Energy stocks fell late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index declining 0.7% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) down 0.4%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index fell 0.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index dropped 1.2%.West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.2% to $99.70 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 1.5% to $103.21 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were little changed at $2.90 per 1 million BTU.In corporate news, Westinghouse Electric is aiming for a valuation of over $50 billion in its US initial public offering, Bloomberg reported. The company, which provides reactor technology to nuclear power plants and is co-owned by Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) and Cameco (CCJ), is looking to file publicly as early as October, the report said. Brookfield Renewable shares rose 1%, and Cameco fell 1.3%.TotalEnergies (TTE) partnered with BlackRock-owned (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners to manage its African oil and gas infrastructure assets, the energy major said. Under the deal, GIP will invest $1.8 billion for a stake in some of TotalEnergies' midstream infrastructure assets in Africa, it said. TotalEnergies shares were down 1%.BP (BP) Developments Australia has agreed to sell a 5% stake in the Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia to Osaka Gas Browse, Osaka Gas said. BP shares were 1.8% lower.Equinor (EQNR) signed a long-term agreement with Thailand's PTT Trading to supply liquefied natural gas, Reuters reported. Equinor shares were down 0.5%.

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Sectors

Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Late Afternoon

Tech stocks rose late Friday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) increasing 0.4% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 0.7%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced 1.6%.In sector news, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Friday to speed up independent oversight of AI companies and advance creation of an emergency "AI kill switch" for frontier models, his office said in a statement.In corporate news, OpenAI hired Brian McCarthy as its new global sales chief and added two veteran sales executives from Snowflake (SNOW), The Information reported. McCarthy previously worked at Space Exploration Technologies' (SPCX) Cursor unit, the report said. Snowflake shares fell 1.5%.Apple (AAPL) faces softer early demand for its new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max based on shorter wait times since preorders opened on Saturday, UBS Securities said in a note. Apple shares were down 0.2%.New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said Friday on X that the chamber asked Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google CEO Sundar Pichai and X's Elon Musk participate in its Oct. 5 hearing on potential risks posed by AI. Meta shares were down 2.5%, and Alphabet added 0.6%.SpaceX (SPCX) has secured a $946 million contract modification from NASA for three additional crew missions to the International Space Station, the agency said in a Friday statement. SpaceX shares were down 1.1%.

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