12:27 PM EDT, 05/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The major US indexes were higher at midday Monday as investors ready themselves for a consequential inflation data release on Wednesday.

In company news, shares of GameStop ( GME ) soared in premarket and early market trading Monday after "Roaring Kitty," the social media persona that sparked a massive stock rally with the videogame retailer in 2021, returned online for the first time in three years. Shares of the company were up nearly 69% at noon.

Intel ( INTC ) is close to striking a deal with Apollo Global Management ( APO ) in which the latter would supply over $11 billion for a new plant in Ireland, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Intel ( INTC ) shares were up more than 3%, while those of Apollo were down nearly 1%.

Anglo American rejected BHP Group's ( BHP ) revised proposal for an all-share offer valuing the company at about 34 billion pounds ($42.71 billion), BHP said Monday. The proposal offered Anglo American shareholders 0.8132 BHP shares for each ordinary share they own, which, in aggregate, would be 16.6% of the combined entity, an increase from the previous offer's 14.8% aggregate ownership stake, BHP said. Shares of BHP were up 0.6%.

Squarespace ( SQSP ) announced on Monday it has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Permira in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $6.9 billion. Squarespace ( SQSP ) shareholders will receive $44 per share in cash, reflecting a 15% premium to the company's closing price on Friday. Squarespace ( SQSP ) stock was up 13% around midday.

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) is expected to exchange all of the 182,329,550 shares of Kenvue ( KVUE ) it owns for Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) indebtedness to be held by Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, Kenvue ( KVUE ) said Monday. Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) was up 0.5%, while Kenvue ( KVUE ) was down nearly 1%.

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Zoox automated driving system is under preliminary investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over unexpected braking that led two accidents that caused injuries, the agency said in a document Monday. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were down 0.7%.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Sunday in a post on X that the Federal Trade Commission should pause Chevron's ( CVX ) proposed $53 billion acquisition of Hess (HES) as it would give big oil companies more leverage to increase gas prices. Shares of Chevron ( CVX ) were down 0.5%, while those of Hess were down almost 1%.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) aims to spend 4 billion euros ($4.31 billion) in France to build cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure, including bringing up to 25,000 advanced graphic processing units to the country by the end of 2025. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up fractionally.

Sanofi ( SNY ) will invest over 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) into three French drug manufacturing facilities as it attempt to ramp up production in its home country. Shares of Sanofi ( SNY ) were up 1.4% in midday trading.

Booking Holdings ( BKNG ) was designated by the European Commission, or EC, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, the EC announced Monday. Consequently, Booking has six months to submit a detailed compliance report outlining how it complies with each of the Act's obligations. The EC can impose fines of up to 10% of Booking's total worldwide turnover and up to 20% in the event of repeated infringements in case of noncompliance. Booking shares were down 1%.

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