Why is International Business Machines stock gaining today?

International Business Machines (IBM) stock rose by 1.0% in afternoon trading due to several positive developments. These include a new $240 million multi-year agreement with Together AI to build an AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud, a successful C$2.75 billion bond issuance, and an expansion of its distribution operations into 20 new countries through TD Synnex. These factors collectively attracted buying interest despite a cautious broader market ahead of key inflation data.