All three major US stock indexes were trending higher around midday Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the way, amid increasing expectations that US legislators will devise a stopgap funding measure to prevent a government shutdown.

In economic news, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 57.9 in March from 64.7 in February, compared with expectations for a much smaller decrease. The current conditions index declined to 63.5 in March from 65.7 in February, while the expectations reading plunged to 54.2 from 64.0.

In company news, PepsiCo (PEP) is nearing a deal to buy healthier soda brand Poppi for more than $1.5 billion. Pepsi could announce the acquisition as soon as next week, Bloomberg reported. Shares of the company were fractionally down.

Radius Recycling (RDUS) shares surged about 105% in recent trading, a day after the company said it agreed to be acquired by Toyota Tsusho America for $30 per share in cash. The consideration represents a 115% premium to the stock's closing share price on March 12 and implies a total enterprise value, including debt, of $1.34 billion, the company said.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said it has excluded Tesla (TSLA) from its investment portfolio due to the company's stance against labor rights, board independence issues and Elon Musk's forays into geopolitics. Separately, Tesla (TSLA) in a letter to the US Trade Representative's Office said the US exporters are "inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts" when other countries retaliate against US trade actions. Shares of the company rose past 2% in recent trading.

Xponential Fitness (XPOF) declined 33% after it reported Q4 adjusted net loss of $0.19 per diluted share, wider than a loss of $0.02 a year earlier. Revenue was $83.2 million, down from $89.3 million a year earlier. The company said it expects 2025 revenue of between $315 million and $325 million, whereas analysts polled by FactSet expect $339.5 million.

BP (BP) stopped a gas leak at its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project off West Africa on Wednesday, the company confirmed to MT Newswires. "The A02 well is one of the four wells for GTA, and this situation had no immediate impact on ongoing production activities from the remaining wells," the company said. The leak was detected on Feb. 19. Shares of the company rose more than 2% in recent trading.

T-Mobile US (TMUS) fell 1.2% in recent trading after Citigroup downgraded the stock to neutral from buy with price target set at $268. The company has an average rating of overweight and mean price target of $262.74, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

In other news, President Donald Trump said in a post on TruthSocial that discussions with his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin were "productive" and there is a "very good chance" to end the Ukraine war.

Price: 148.24, Change: -0.10, Percent Change: -0.07