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Stocks jump after BOJ move; GDP slows sharply in Q4; Amazon's surprise miss

Wall Street looks set to end a rough week and month with a bang. All three major averages (^DJI^GSPC^IXIC) are higher across the board after the Bank of Japan surprised global markets by adopting negative interest rates for the first time in an attempt to stimulate its struggling economy. Oil (CLH16.NYMprices continue to gain ground on expectations that major oil producers will come together to cut output.

Economy slows down

U.S. economic growth hit the brakes in the fourth quarter as businesses dealt with an inventory glut, a stronger dollar and weak global demand. The Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product increased by just  0.7%, while the economy grew 2.4% in 2015.

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Amazon (AMZN) reported a big earnings per share miss for the fourth quarter. And even though revenue jumped 22% to nearly $36 billion, it was still a tad shy of Wall Street expectations. Some factors that dragged down profits were costs related to storing the goods its sells, or so-called fulfillment expenses, which rose 33% from a year ago. Growth in its cloud computing division also failed to impress investors.

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Microsoft (MSFT) is flexing its muscle. The tech giant reported a beat on both its top and bottom lines for its fiscal second quarter, as the company's cost-cutting efforts and its push to cloud products and services paid off.

Visa (V) posted earnings per share that beat by a penny, but revenue fell slightly short of estimates. Profit jumped 24% fom a year ago as consumers swiped their credit cards more to pay for purchases. Visa will replace American Express (AXP) in March as the exclusive card accepted at Costco (COST) stores.

Splitsville for Xerox

Xerox (XRX) plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies. One company will contain its office machines and another will house its services operations. Activist investor Carl Icahn, who has a more than 8% stake in the company, will also get three seats on the service company board. The split is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The announcement comes as Xerox reported earnings per share that topped analysts' estimates, but revenue came in slightly below forecasts.