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Sector Update: Tech Stocks Slide Late Afternoon

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-- Tech stocks declined late Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) fractionally lower and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) falling 3.2%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 1.4%.

In corporate news, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares fell 3.4% after Northland downgraded the company's stock to market perform from outperform.

The European Commission on Monday proposed measures that would require Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google to open its Android ecosystem to rival AI services and launched a public consultation under the EU's Digital Markets Act. Alphabet shares were up 2.1%.

Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI have amended their partnership under which the tech giant will no longer pay a revenue share to the ChatGPT maker, among other things, with Wedbush Securities calling the development a net positive for Microsoft. Microsoft shares rose 0.3%.

Meta Platforms' (META) $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus was blocked by China's National Development and Reform Commission, media outlets reported Monday, citing the Chinese regulator. Meta shares were up 0.6%.

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Research Alert: Ventas: Revenue Beats, $1b In New Senior Housing Properties Acquired In Q1

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AM Best Affirms Tower Ratings at 'A-Excellent' With Stable Outlook

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Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise on Cooler Weather Outlook

US natural gas futures climbed in after-hours trading on Monday as a cooler weather outlook and easing supply conditions triggered some short covering.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract both rose 0.75% to $2.542 per million British thermal units.Prices briefly touched an intraday high of around $2.63/MMBtu in earlier trade."Nat-gas prices settled higher on Monday as short covering emerged amid colder US weather forecasts, potentially boosting nat-gas heating demand," Barchart said.Weather-driven demand shifts were a key driver. NatGasWeather.com said models have moved cooler versus last week, adding more heating demand days while reducing cooling demand. The forecaster said the change leaves the outlook less bearish and closer to neutral or slightly bullish.On the demand side, residential and commercial consumption increased sharply to 15.2 billion cubic feet per day from 12.5 Bcf/d as cooler temperatures boosted heating needs. Power burn remained steady at 32.5 Bcf/d and is projected to average 30.3 Bcf/d for the week, up from 29 Bcf/d last week, Gelber & Associates said.Total US natural gas production was flat last week, averaging around 106.5 Bcf/d, NRG Energy said. Trading Economics said output fell by around 4.1 Bcf/d over the past 18 days to an 11-week low of 108.1 Bcf/d, as major producers such as EQT scaled back output in response to low prices.Both NRG Energy and Gelber said Canadian imports fell to 4.7-4.8 Bcf/d from 5.5 Bcf/d.On the export side, Barchart, citing BNEF data, said LNG flows were 19.5 Bcf/d, down 2.1% from last week's robust levels. Trading Economics put the April average feedgas flow at 18.9 Bcf/d so far and noted it was near record highs."Today saw cooler forecast revisions, softer production, and steady LNG demand, which offers limited support for prices. That said, overall fundamental balances are not tight enough to fully change the story," Gelber said Monday.