By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks ended the session Wednesday with broad gains after the Federal Open Market Committee released its latest minutes regarding its plans for U.S. interest rates.

The FOMC gave no major announcements about interest rates, which appeared to give investors a sense of calm in late trading.

Among leading tech stocks, Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose 2% to $100.80 following reports that the company will hold an event on Oct. 16, presumably to unveil new versions of the iPad and Mac computers.

Apple also appeared headed for some activity Thursday, as billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said Wednesday he had sent an "open letter" to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, which Icahn said "will be interesting."

Gains also came from Netflix Inc. (NFLX), LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Twitter Inc. (TWTR), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

Security software company Symantec Corp. (SYMC) rose 3.5% to close at $24.01. A report in Bloomberg News said Symantec is considering splitting into two companies, with one focused on security programs and one on data storage business offerings.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) surged by 83 points, or almost 2%, to close at 4,468 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) climbed 2.3%.

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