01:46 PM EDT, 07/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) falling 1.6% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) dropping 2.6%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index shed 2.9%.

In sector news, DeepSeek is planning a new fundraising round at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan ($74 billion) ahead of a potential listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, Reuters reported. According to the report, DeepSeek is looking to raise up to 50 billion yuan just weeks after the funding round in June. The startup has begun early discussions on a potential IPO, targeting an initial filing this year, although the plans remain subject to change, multiple reports said.

In corporate news, Apple ( AAPL ) has held talks with bankers in recent months about possible deals for chip companies, as it looks to enhance its efforts to build server chips for running AI, The Information reported. Apple ( AAPL ) shares rose 4.1%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has shipped only a limited number of H200 AI chips to China and Hong Kong despite the issuance of US export licenses, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler told a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were down 1.3%.

ASML ( ASML ) reported Q2 earnings Wednesday of 7.58 euros ($8.66) per diluted share, up from 5.90 euros a year earlier but below the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of 8.59 euros. Second-quarter net sales were 9.33 billion euros, up from 7.69 billion euros a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of 10.44 billion euros. Separately, ASML ( ASML ) is planning to raise prices for its chip production equipment, The Information reported. The price increase has elicited a pushback from chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) , two of the sources told the news outlet. ASML ( ASML ) shares were up 0.9%, and Taiwan Semiconductor was shedding 0.9%.