01:51 PM EST, 03/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were in the red Tuesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) falling 2.6% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) shedding 2.1%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index slumped 2.4%.

In corporate news, Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhone sales declined by double digits in China through the first six weeks of 2024 as the firm underperformed key rivals, according to Counterpoint research. Apple ( AAPL ) shares dropped 2.9%.

Meta-owned (META) social-media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger faced outages Tuesday. Meta shares were down 1.7%.

Viavi Solutions ( VIAV ) has agreed terms on a cash offer to buy Spirent Communications in a deal that values telecommunications testing firm Spirent, at roughly 1.01 billion pounds ($1.28 billion), the companies said Tuesday. Viavi shares jumped 11%.