03:37 PM EDT, 03/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks dropped late Tuesday afternoon with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) down 1.5% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) falling 1.3%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 1.5%.

In sector news, the US Commerce Department recently informed staff that Chinese AI model DeepSeek is banned on government devices to protect information security, Reuters reported late Monday.

In corporate news, Oracle (ORCL) is considering a proposal for the sale of TikTok's US operations under which it would provide security guarantees for the safety of US user data while taking a "small stake" in a new American entity, Bloomberg reported. Oracle shares declined 2.5%.