01:53 PM EDT, 09/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks gained Thursday afternoon trading with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 1.1% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) climbing 0.4%, erasing earlier losses.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 0.5%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT ) named Carolina Dybeck Happe as chief operating officer. Separately, the company is cutting 650 jobs at its Xbox division following the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Bloomberg reported. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares rose 0.4%.

Unity Software ( U ) shares jumped 10% after the company said it will cancel the runtime fee for games, effective immediately, and revert to a seat-based subscription model for gaming customers.

Nokia ( NOK ) approached potential candidates about replacing Pekka Lundmark as chief executive officer, the Financial Times reported. Nokia ( NOK ) shares rose 0.1%.