11:58 AM EDT, 07/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up in late-morning trading Wednesday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down as investors prepare for another big jobs report Friday.

In company news, Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) said Wednesday that its board approved a one-year shareholder rights plan, effective immediately, after Elliott Investment Management said it has built about an 11% economic interest in the airline. Southwest ( LUV ) said Elliott did not fully disclose its position to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and that the asset manager could be intending to secure more voting power in the company starting July 11. The rights plan aims to deter acquisitions of control without compensating shareholders appropriately, the airline said. Southwest ( LUV ) shares were up 0.4%.

National Amusements reached a preliminary deal to sell its controlling interest in Paramount Global ( PARAA ) to Skydance Media, media outlets reported late Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Under the reported terms of the agreement, Skydance will pay $1.75 billion for National Amusements, which owns 77% of Paramount's voting shares, The Wall Street Journal reported. National Amusements is no longer mandating that the Paramount merger be approved by a majority of non-Redstone shareholders, a previous sticking point, according to The WSJ. Shares of Paramount were up 7.3%.

Jeff Bezos disclosed a plan to sell 25 million shares of Amazon.com ( AMZN ) for an aggregate market value of $4.93 billion, according to a company filing late Tuesday with the SEC. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were down 1.1%.

Patients prescribed Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) Ozempic or Wegovy for diabetes or weight loss had a higher risk of developing a potentially blinding eye condition called NAION than did similar patients not prescribed the drugs, a new study led by Mass Eye and Ear showed. People with diabetes who had been prescribed semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy) by their physician and then filled the prescription were over four times more likely to be diagnosed with NAION, while those who were overweight or obese who were prescribed one of the drugs were over seven times more likely to receive the diagnosis, according to the study. Shares of Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) were down 3.8%.

JPMorgan Chase's ( JPM ) chief global market strategist, Marko Kolanovic, is leaving the company after 19 years, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing an internal memo it obtained. Hussein Malik will be the sole head of global research, Bloomberg reported, citing the memo. Shares of JPMorgan ( JPM ) were down 0.3%.

Price: 28.48, Change: +0.19, Percent Change: +0.65