01:34 PM EST, 01/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 2% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) climbing 3.1%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index added 2.3%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares rose 2.4%. The company launched Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365 Copilot Chat that adds "pay-as-you-go agents" to the current free chat service for commercial clients of Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365.