Stocks are indicated higher on better-than-expected earnings and economic news Friday. Thirty minutes before the opening bell, stock index futures hint at a possible 60 or 70 point gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stock index futures rallied around a stronger-than-expected GDP report Friday morning. The data, released an hour before the exchanges opened in New York, showed the US economy growing at a 5.7 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, which was better than the 4.7 percent increase economists had predicted. The Employment Cost Index [ECI] rose .5 percent, and also better than the .4 percent economists had expected.

Stock index futures were in positive territory prior to the data following better-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT), which are trading up 3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Attention turns to the Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m. eastern time. Economists expect the gauge of regional manufacturing activity to decline to 57.2 in January, down from 58.7 the month before. The University of Michigan Sentiment Index is due 10 minutes later. Economists expect a reading of 73 for January, up modestly from the 72.8 at the end of December.

Bonds are lower ahead of the news and on the strong GDP print. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is down 4/32nd and yields 3.65 percent.

The dollar jumped .85 to 90.72 against the Japanese yen. The euro lost .0028 to 1.3944 against the buck.

Action in the commodities market is mixed. While crude oil gained 85 cents to $74.49 a barrel, gold lost 60 cents to $1083 an ounce.

Some less actively traded names seeing bullish order flow: Polycom (PLCM), Crown Holdings (CCK), Public Storage (PSA) Bearish order flow: Hologic (HOLX), Teekay (TK), Banco Santander (STD) Post Earnings: Qualcomm (QCOM), Potash (POT), Nokia (NOK), PG, Netflix (NFLX), Royal Caribbean (RCL), Eastman Kodak (EK), Symantec (SYMC), MMM, Occidental Pete (OXY), Textron (TXT), Tyco (TYC) Pre-Earnings: Microsoft (MSFT), Genworth (GNW), Juniper Networks (JNPR), KLA Tencor (KLAC), Computer Associates (CA), Digital River (DRIV) Ex-Div: Planes All American Pipeline (PAA), Suburban Propane (SPH)

After hitting a high of $43.39 early, National Oilwell (NOV) came under pressure in morning trading and was recently down $1.36 to $41.56. In the options market, bearish flow was detected, with 11,420 puts traded, or about 6X the recent average daily. Feb puts with strike prices ranging from 40 to 45 are seeing the bulk of the flow and implied volatility is up about 3.8 percent to 42. No news on the oil driller today and the action might reflect some anxiety about the company’s Feb 3 earnings release.

*Scanning all single-stocks subject to 2500 contracts minimum call or put volume

Big Prints in the Qs (QQQQ) after a stragist sells the Feb 43 – 46 put spread at $1.89, 32000X, to buy the Mar 40 – 43 put spread at 80 cents, 50000X. The action has the hallmarks of a roll, with a strategist closing a spread in February and buying-to-open a similar one, but at lower strike prices, in March. So, this looks like an institutional investor adjusting a hedge.

*Scanning all single-stocks subject to 2500 contracts minimum call or put volume

Toyota Motors (TM), which gapped lower on news it was halting sales of some of its most popular vehicles due to a defect that causes unintentional acceleration, is down another $2.33 to $77.44 today. Reuters and New York Times reports Toyota is expanding its recall to include millions of vehicles in Europe and Asia. TM has now suffered a 5-day 14.3 percent slide and options activity is picking up as well. 9,430 puts and 4,530 calls traded so far, or about 7X the average daily. Feb 75 puts and 80 calls are the most actives, as investors take positions in anticipation of Toyota’s next move. Implied volatility is making a run towards 34, up about 1 percent today and up from about 26.5 before the 5-day slide began.

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Qualcomm options lead the single stock space this morning with shares down more than 12% to $41.29 after earnings beat estimates but the outlook disappointed investors. First hour of the day saw 150,000 contracts trade (triple the daily avg), with calls leading the flow and notable activity at the $45 strike in April and Jan11 expiries. Just before 10am a buyer paid $3.35 for 9300 Jan11 45 calls on the Boston Options Exchange, and a moment ago a seller collected 78cents for 17,000 April 45 calls on the PHLX.