• Bank of America  reported higher fourth-quarter profit on the back of a jump in M&A activity and lending.
  • Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit Wednesday, helped by a boom in mergers and acquisitions and strong fees in its advisory business. 
  • ASML expects Q1 sales to be well below projections, and anticipates 20% annual growth including the loss that hit the group.
  • Intel has ordered next-generation lithography equipment from ASML, still in development, to be released in several years as the industry tries to ramp up production rates amid a global shortage of electronic components.
  • Oracle announced Wednesday that it will open a data center in South Africa, its first on the African continent, to provide cloud computing services.
  • Compagnie Financière Richemont's organic growth well above expectations in fiscal Q3.
  • Sony falls on the stock market after Microsoft announced the purchase of Activision.
  • Burberry reports 5% quarterly sales growth.
  • EQT does better than expected in fiscal 2021.
  • Procter & Gamble on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales thanks to higher rates and a resurgent COVID-19 outbreak that boosted demand for its cleaning products. The group also raised its full-year organic revenue forecast.
  • TechnipFMC is selected for a wind project in Scotland.
  • Ford said that its fourth-quarter results would include an $8.2 billion gain from its investment in electric car maker Rivian, which went public in early November.
  • Disgruntled Tesla shareholders want Elon Musk to repay the $13 billion SolarCity acquisition.
  • Gilead Sciences - The drugmaker announced Tuesday that an unauthorized network of drug distributors and suppliers had sold more than $250 million of counterfeit versions of its AIDS treatments to pharmacies over the past two years.
  • Several airlines, fearing disruptions, decided to modify or suspend some of their flights in the United States as part of Wednesday's rollout of new 5G C-band services despite AT&T and Verizon's decision to delay the opening of their services near some airports.
  • Poenina and Burkhalter consider merger.
  • The board of Assicurazioni Generali, in the midst of an internal fight over the reappointment of CEO Philippe Donnet, fired back at rebel shareholders on Tuesday, calling criticism of it "unfounded."

Main earnings releases: UnitedHealth, Procter & Gamble, ASML, Morgan Stanley, Compagnie Financière Richemont, Antofagasta, Burberry, Virbac...