03:59 PM EDT, 03/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks rose late Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) up 1.7% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 2.8%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 1.9%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI is offering private-equity firms a sweeter deal than Anthropic as they court buyout firms to establish joint ventures aimed at raising fresh capital, Reuters reported. Also, OpenAI is in late-stage negotiations to purchase electricity from fusion startup Helion Energy, Axios reported. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up 0.5%.

Elliott Investment Management has amassed a multibillion-dollar stake in Synopsys ( SNPS ) and intends to engage with the chip-design software maker to push the business to make more money from its software and services, news outlets reported Sunday. The activist investor's managing partner, Jesse Cohn, said Synopsys ( SNPS ) is "essential" to the global chip industry, The Wall Street Journal reported. Synopsys ( SNPS ) shares gained 3.7%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has been pitching its new MGX ETL rack, which can run chips made by its competitors, to Chinese customers, which would allow it to generate revenue from rival AI chips in China, The Information reported. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares rose 2.3%.

A JPMorgan Chase-led (JPM) group of Wall Street banks launched a sale of junk bonds totaling $8 billion to fund the leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts ( EA ) , Bloomberg reported. Electronic Arts ( EA ) shares increased 0.3%.