01:53 PM EDT, 05/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were lower Monday 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 4.1%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index slumped 3%.

In corporate news, Seagate Technology ( STX ) shares fell more than 9% after Chief Executive Dave Mosley said that building new factories to meet demand would "take too long."

Equinix's ( EQIX ) plan to build two data centers in Cape Town, South Africa, is facing opposition from community groups and UK non-profit Foxglove, claiming the project lacks key details on water use, electricity demand and environmental impact, Reuters reported, citing a formal objection filed with city planners. Equinix ( EQIX ) shares were fractionally higher.

LiveRamp ( RAMP ) shares jumped past 27% after the data collaboration platform agreed to be acquired by French advertising and public relations firm Publicis Groupe in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $2.17 billion.

Baidu ( BIDU ) reported better-than-expected Q1 results on Monday buoyed by growth in its core AI-powered business. Its shares rose 2.5%.