Tech stocks were advancing Monday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) adding 1% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) up 1.1%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index was 0.5% higher.

In corporate news, Intel (INTC) agreed to sell 51% of its Altera business to investment firm Silver Lake, as the chip giant seeks to focus on its core business. Intel shares rose 3.6%.

Apple shares added 3.3%. The White House's signals of flexibility on tech and semiconductor components are a positive shift compared to the darker outlook over the previous 10 days, Wedbush said in a note emailed Monday. Separately, Apple assembled $22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the year through March, with production up roughly 60% year on year, Bloomberg reported.

Nvidia (NVDA) said Monday it's working with its manufacturing partners to design and build factories that will produce AI supercomputers entirely in the US for the first time. Nvidia shares were down 0.02%.