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Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Late Afternoon

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Tech stocks were higher late Friday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) up 0.1% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index shed 0.4%.

In sector news, Nscale is looking to raise up to $3 billion in its US initial public offering, Bloomberg reported. The data center developer's IPO could take place as soon as September, the report said.

In corporate news, Apple (AAPL) is shedding about 200 jobs in teams responsible for the Siri digital assistant and the Vision Pro headset, Bloomberg reported. Separately, Apple paid $17 billion in taxes to Ireland in 2025, 40% of its worldwide total and driven significantly by an EU court order in 2024 requiring the tech giant to pay 13 billion euros ($15.19 billion) in back taxes, the Financial Times reported. Apple shares were down 0.5%.

Meta (META), Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google and Snap (SNAP) face one fewer teen social media addiction lawsuit after a 15-year-old New Jersey girl dropped her claims against the companies ahead of an October trial, Reuters reported Friday, citing a court filing. Reuters reported that the plaintiff, identified in court records as P. M-Y., had alleged that the companies' platforms contributed to her social media addiction, depression and self-harm. Meta shares were up 0.7%, Alphabet added 1.3%, and Snap was shedding 0.5%.

Broadcom (AVGO) is in talks with a group of lenders to raise as much as $100 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal, Bloomberg reported. Broadcom shares were up 1.2%.

Nvidia (NVDA) is in advanced talks to invest in data center power developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure, with an announcement possible coming as soon as Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, Nvidia has agreed to pay $6 billion to license AI model-development software from startup Poolside and hire 109 employees involved in developing its Laguna AI model, The Information reported late Thursday, citing a report by the newsletter Newcomer. Nvidia shares were down 0.8%.

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