US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.2% to 2,946.25
Brent futures down 0.1% to $64.79/bbl
Gold spot up 0.8% to $1,430.39
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 96.00

GLOBAL NEWS:

Mega-fusion in the pharmacy sector. AbbVie will buy Allergan for $63 billion in shares and cash. Both groups made the announcement today. They hope to complete the transaction in early 2020.

Time for reflection. Commerzbank is not ready to prepare for a new union, particularly with UniCredit, according to Reuters, after the breakdown of the marriage with Deutsche Bank. The German number two in the sector wants to give himself more time to think. The case remains delicate: the bride is not particularly attractive in a cross-border transaction, given her below-average financial performance.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to sell Celgene's psoriasis treatment to obtain US antitrust approval for its proposed acquisition of biotech. In January, the US giant pharmaceutical group announced a proposed acquisition of Celgene for $74 billion in order to strengthen its position in oncology. Bristol now expects the transaction to be completed by the end of the year or early 2020, instead of the previously planned third quarter of 2019.

Linde signs a major contract with Exxon Mobil for the extension of a project in Singapore. It said this will be the largest gas sales contract in the history of the new Linde group and its predecessors. Linde will invest $1.4 billion to expand its existing gasification complex on Jurong Island, integrating it with the oil and gas group's project to produce and supply additional synthetic gas and hydrogen.

Worrying. What is Hiroto Saikawa doing? At the Nissan AGM, the Japanese CEO called for a rebalancing of the Alliance with Renault, suggesting that in the event of a "lose-win" partnership, the relationship "could end very quickly". This is enough to throw oil on the fire just a few days after a pseudo-truce induced by the arrival (with forceps) of Jean-Dominique Senard and Thierry Bolloré in Nissan's board committees. In parallel, Carlos Ghosn's lawyers questioned the Japanese judiciary to understand why Saikawa is not mentioned in the case file when they consider that he has violated several governance rules.

Eneco soon sold. A consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell is in pole position to take over the Dutch energy group Eneco after the withdrawal of Total and Enel, Reuters learned. Macquarie and Mitsubishi are reportedly still in progress but behind. Eneco could be sold for some €3 billion.

Mission impossible. FedEx is suing the US government over an impossible export policy towards China. The burden is too heavy to bear, the company says, and it should theoretically ensure that every package delivered worldwide complies with the trade sanctions adopted by the United States.

Beauty offensive. Amazon.com shakes up cosmetics distributors on Wall Street, after announcing a new sales site for beauty professionals. Stocks like Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty have fallen sharply. Amazon offers free delivery to businesses such as hairdressers and beauty salons that subscribe to its Business Prime program.

In other news. The Italian banking fund (FITD) rejected the Banca Carige rescue plan presented by the investment fund Apollo Management. MarketAxess will replace L3 Technologies in the S&P 500. The president of Nokia's Chinese subsidiary believes that his group is not immune to the turmoil of the Sino-American arm wrestling over trade. Cybereason Cybersecurity Firm estimates that Chinese hackers have compromised the cellular networks of a dozen global telecommunications operators. Novartis and Conatus failed in Phase IIb with emricasan in the decompensated NASH. Credit Suisse sells Investlab to Spanish Allfunds.