03:29 PM EST, 01/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 2.4% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI plans to launch this week ChatGPT's automating capability for complex tasks commonly done on the Web browser, tech-focused news outlet The Information reported. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were rising nearly 4%.