Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Drugmakers — Pharmaceutical stocks bounced back from earlier losses after an executive order aimed at bringing down drug prices was deemed not as bad as feared for the industry. Merck jumped 5%, while Pfizer , Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly all rose more than 2%. However, pharmacy chain CVS Health tumbled 5% as part of the order called for a platform that allowed Americans to buy products directly from manufacturers. Tech stocks — Shares of megacap technology companies saw a broad rally on Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods. Shares of Tesla and Amazon , which have both seen declining China sales, each rose about 7%. Apple , which makes the majority of its iPhones in China, gained more than 5%. Meta Platforms jumped 7%. Semiconductor stocks Nvidia , Broadcom and ON Semiconductor also rose. Chegg — Shares popped 2% after the educational technology company said it would lay off 22% of its workforce . The cuts come as the company contends with declining web traffic as students favor artificial intelligence tools when utilizing education tech services. China stocks — U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies moved higher on the heels of the tariff agreement between the U.S. and China. Shares of e-commerce giants PDD Holdings and Alibaba each rose more than 6%, as did fellow e-commerce name JD. …
