The Market In 5 Minutes: Google And Microsoft And Intel, Oh My!

Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 20,054.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.25 points to 2,293.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 6 points to 5,153.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 1 percent to trade at $55.68 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.67 percent to trade at $53.42 a barrel.

USA GDP (QoQ) for Q4 Prelim 1.90% vs 2.20% consensus estimate; The prior reading was 3.50%. GDP Price Index (QoQ) for Q4 2.10%.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

Alphabet GOOGGOOGL Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $9.36 vs $9.64 Est., Q4 Sales Ex-TAC $21.22B
American Air AAL Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $1.48 vs $0.92 Est., Sales $9.789B vs $9.74B Est.
Microsoft MSFT Reports Q2 Adj. EPS $0.83 vs $0.79 Est., Q2 Adj Revenue $26.1B, May Compare Better to $25.28B Est
Starbucks SBUX Reports Q1 EPS $0.52 In-line, Sales $5.73B vs $5.85B Est
Intel INTC Reports Q4 EPS $0.73 vs $0.75 Est., Sales $16.4B vs $15.8B Est.
Colgate CL Reports Q4 EPS $0.68 vs. Est. $0.76, Rev. $3.72B vs. Est. $3.87B
Juniper JNPR Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $0.66 vs $0.63 Est., Sales $1.386B vs $1.36B Est.
Wynn WYNN Reports Q2 EPS $1.12 vs. Est. $0.86, Rev. $1.3B vs. Est. $1.26B

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Argus downgraded JetBlue JBLU to Hold.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Whirlpool WHR to Neutral.
RBC Cpaital upgraded Ford Motor F to Outperform.
Wells Fargo upgraded Caterpillar CAT to Outperform.
Argus started Splunk SPLK at Hold.

Deal Talk

Sanofi SNY is said to be exploring an acquisition of Tesaro TSRO, according to sources as reported by Street Insider. The sources say Morgan Stanley is working as an advisor on a potential deal. Tesaro closed at $153.36 on Thursday, up 9.54 percent.

Alibaba BABA payment affiliate Ant Financial agreed to purchase Moneygram MGI for $880 million. The merger is the latest step in Alibaba’s international expansion efforts. Alibaba is certainly not the only big-name tech stock making a big move into the mobile payment and electronic payment transfer space. After building a dominant market share.

In The News

Federal agencies are scrambling to handle a chaotic transition of power between two diametrically different leaders. This has led to confusion over what government websites can display, what employees are allowed to do with publicly funded work and growing social-media activism aimed at rebutting President Donald Trump.

It’s been a bleak decade for journalists. Every week brings another round of layoffs spurned by shifting consumer trends. The losses are the only constant in the evolving industry. And at this tumultuous time, some are leaving by choice.

Blogosphere

Ugly's Coming for India's Best Banks: "Indian bank investors are in for a rude shock, and one that's got little to do with the chaos unleashed by demonetization.The fault lies in shareholders' own expectations, which, in Morgan Stanley's words, are driven by "institutional memory." The top three Indian private-sector lenders by assets -- ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. -- have such a stellar record of boosting their net interest margins that it's almost unthinkable the profit gear could now be in reverse. But in reverse it might well be."

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