12:21 PM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US indexes were up in midday trading Thursday as the latest jobless claims data bolsters investors' hopes of monetary policy easing in the near future by the Federal Reserve.

In company news, Brookfield (BN) reported Q1 distributable earnings of $0.77 per share, up from $0.72 in the year-ago period and above the Capital IQ consensus analyst estimate of $0.72. Q1 revenue was $22.91 billion, down from $23.30 billion a year earlier. Brookfield stock was down 0.4%.

Constellation Energy ( CEG ) reported adjusted operating earnings of $1.82 per diluted share, up from $0.78 a year earlier and above the consensus of $1.29. Operating revenue was $6.16 billion, down from $7.57 billion a year ago and below the consensus of $6.78. The company expects full-year 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $7.23 to $8.03 per diluted share Analysts expect $7.58. CEG shares were up 0.8%.

Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) shareholders elected three board nominees backed by Ancora Holdings Group at the company's annual meeting of shareholders, preliminary results showed Thursday. Conversely, 10 of the 13 nominees backed by NSC were elected. Norfolk Southern ( NSC ) shares were down about 3%.

Santiago Paredes, who worked for Spirit AeroSystems ( SPR ) , regularly found "anywhere from 50 to 100, 200" defects on fuselages that were being shipped to Boeing ( BA ) , he told CBS News in an interview Wednesday. Paredes said he was pressured to downplay quality issues because the defects would delay deliveries. Boeing ( BA ) and Spirit AeroSystems ( SPR ) shares were both up 0.2%.

Nippon Steel said it plans to raise as much as 250 billion yen ($1.61 billion) via loans and bonds in anticipation of its planned acquisition of United States Steel ( X ) . Nippon filed an amended shelf registration statement for the issuance of up to 167.5 billion yen in public subordinated bonds and arranged a syndicated loan of 82.5 billion yen. US Steel shares were down 0.4%.

Alphabet (GOOG) is in advanced talks to acquire HubSpot ( HUBS ) , negotiating terms of a potential deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Alphabet shares were down 0.3%, while those of HubSpot ( HUBS ) were up 0.2%.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) could pay up to $600 million as part of a deal with Metaphore Biotechnologies and Flagship Pioneering to develop up to two new therapeutics for obesity management, Metaphore and Flagship said. Novo shares were up 1%.

Ford Motor's ( F ) proposed plan to fix the issue behind its recall of 2022-2023 Ford Bronco Sport and 2022 Ford Escape vehicles raises "significant safety concerns," the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, said in an information request letter. The recall was launched due to the possibility that a cracked fuel injector could leak fuel onto hot engine parts, potentially causing a fire. Ford's plan "does not address the root cause of the issue and does not proactively call for the replacement of defective fuel injectors prior to their failure," the NHTSA said. Ford shares were up fractionally.

Price: 43.80, Change: -0.19, Percent Change: -0.43