Tech stocks were higher Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) each adding 0.9%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 0.6%.
In corporate news, Alibaba (BABA) shares jumped 6.2% after Bloomberg reported Thursday the company is planning an initial public offering for its T-Head chipmaking unit.