01:56 PM EST, 01/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher Tuesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) up 0.4% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index increased 0.5%.

In corporate news, Meta Platforms ( META ) shares fell nearly 2%. Bloomberg reported, citing a memo sent to employees by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, that the company plans to eliminate roughly 5% of its lowest performers with the goal of backfilling the positions in 2025.

Applied Digital ( APLD ) said it struck a $5 billion perpetual preferred equity funding facility with Macquarie to support Applied's development of data centers. Applied Digital ( APLD ) shares jumped 14%.

Ongoing investigations into Apple ( AAPL ) , Meta, and Alphabet (GOOG) are being reevaluated by the European Commission under the Digital Markets Act, for potential scale back or change in scope, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Apple ( AAPL ) shares were fractionally higher, while Alphabet was down 0.2%.