11:54 AM EDT, 10/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes were both up in late morning trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down. Nasdaq Composite was trading 1.1% higher thanks to upbeat outlooks for big tech stocks ahead of their upcoming earnings.

In company news, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) has achieved early production yields at its new Arizona plant that exceed yields of similar facilities in Taiwan, Bloomberg reported Friday. The share of usable chips produced in Phoenix is about four percentage points higher than in Taiwan, Rick Cassidy, president of TSMC's US division told listeners on a webinar Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. Shares of the company were up 3.2% near noon.

Intel ( INTC ) said Friday it plans to make an initial investment of more than $28 billion to construct two chip factories in Licking County, Ohio. The investment is intended to help raise production to meet the "surging" demand for semiconductors, the company said. Intel ( INTC ) shares were up 3.5%.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 26 new E. coli cases potentially linked to McDonald's (MCD) Quarter Pounders have been reported, bringing the total to 75. The CDC also said the outbreak has resulted in 12 new hospitalizations, bringing that total to 22, and three new states have reported cases for a total of 13. No new deaths were reported, according to the agency. Shares of McDonald's were down 2.1%.

BHP Group ( BHP ) and Vale (VALE) reached an agreement with Brazilian authorities, valued at 170 billion Brazilian reals ($29.86 billion), to settle claims related to a 2015 dam failure at a mine owned by the companies' joint venture, BHP said Friday. BHP shares were up 0.6%, while those of Vale were up 3.6%.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) Chief Executive Satya Nadella's compensation in 2024 rose by 63% year over year to $79.1 million, according to a Thursday filing. Nadella was eligible for a cash incentive of $10.7 million, but he will only receive $5.2 million after he proposed a reduction following multiple cybersecurity breaches that occurred during the fiscal year, according to the filing. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up 1.3%.

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo autonomous vehicle unit said Friday it has closed an oversubscribed $5.6 billion funding round. Waymo said Alphabet led the investment round and that it also received continued participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. Alphabet shares were up 1.4%.

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