04:08 PM EDT, 08/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher late Tuesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 1.5%, and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) climbing 4.4%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index advanced 2.8%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT ) has compiled a list of Meta Platform's (META) engineers and researchers and is making multimillion-dollar offers to the employees, Business Insider reported, citing internal documents. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were rising 1.5% and Meta's were adding 3.1%.

Alphabet's (GOOG) Google ( GOOG ) has received a $34.5 billion purchase offer from AI startup Perplexity for its Chrome browser amid an ongoing antitrust case, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing Perplexity. Alphabet added 1.4%.

Intel ( INTC ) Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan met with President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social. The meeting comes days after Trump called on the CEO to step down from his post. Intel ( INTC ) shares rose 5.2%.

Chinese authorities have urged Chinese companies to avoid using Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H20 chips, especially for government-related activities, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 0.3%.