Sector Update: Tech Stocks Gain Monday Afternoon

01:33 PM EDT, 10/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rising 1.8% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) up 2.6%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index added 2.5%. In corporate news, SpaceX (SPCX) CEO Elon Musk said Monday on X that he plans to give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in the US next year. Musk beneficially owns about 6.42 billion SpaceX shares, including unvested restricted stock and shares issuable upon exercise of stock options, according to an August SEC filing. SpaceX shares rose 1.7%. American Electric Power (AEP) said Monday it has agreed with X-Energy (XE) to explore the development of a proposed 960 megawatt nuclear energy project in Sullivan County, Indiana. The initial project will use 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors of 80 MW each and Amazon (AMZN) intends to purchase power under a long-term contract, covering the facility's costs and operations, the company said. Amazon shares gained 5%. Microsoft (MSFT) has withdrawn from a data center deal in the UK with Nscale, Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing an Nscale spokesperson. The project has been hampered by power shortages and construction delays, the report said. Microsoft shares added 0.9%. Monday.com (MNDY) shares rose 2.5% after the firm said Monday it has launched its voice AI agent platform Harmony designed for enterprise sales teams.