U.S. stock index futures were marginally lower in shortened Christmas Eve trading on Wednesday, as traders wait to see whether stocks can extend record gains in a seasonally strong stretch for markets. .N

** Vertex VRTX.O

BUZZ- Leerink Partners lifts Vertex price target on pipeline optimism nL4N3XU0IW

** BP BP.L:

BUZZ - BP shares rise on Castrol stake sale nL4N3XU0BW

** Dynavax DVAX.O

** Sanofi SASY.PA:

BUZZ - Dynavax soars as French drug maker Sanofi to acquire co nL6N3XU0D7

** Nike NKE.N:
BUZZ - Nike climbs after Apple CEO buys stock worth nearly $3 million nL6N3XT0PR

** Intel INTC.O

** Nvidia NVDA.O:
BUZZ - Intel falls after report Nvidia stopped testing company's 18A chipmaking tech nL4N3XU0JK

(Koyena Das)

((Koyena.das@thomsonreuters.com))