-- Tech stocks were higher late Friday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) up 0.7% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rising 2.4%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed nearly 3%.
In corporate news, Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic is exploring plans to design its own AI chips as it grapples with industry-wide shortages, Reuters reported. Amazon shares were up 2%.
ServiceNow (NOW) shares fell 8.3%. The enterprise software company's competitive advantage may have eroded amid growing evidence that workflow automation tasks can be automated by harnessing AI models, UBS Securities said in a note. The brokerage downgraded its rating on the stock to neutral from buy and lowered its price target to $100 from $170.
CoreWeave (CRWV) shares surged past 10% after the AI cloud computing company struck a deal to support the development and deployment of Anthropic's Claude AI models.
Commvault Systems (CVLT) is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest from multiple private equity firms and strategic buyers, Reuters reported. The data protection software provider is working with Goldman Sachs (GS) to weigh its options, the report said. Commvault shares popped 9%.