US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures up 0.7% to 2,962.75

Brent futures up 1.5% to $59.96/bbl

Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,499.17

US Dollar Index down 0.2% to 98.52

 

GLOBAL NEWS:

No British expansion for AB InBev. Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev has put on hold plans to expand the size of its U.K. headquarters amid growing uncertainty over Brexit, Bloomberg reports.

Change of direction at Renault. Renault's CEO, Thierry Bolloré, has been dismissed by the Board of Directors, as many rumors had suggested. In the French press, he denounced a "disturbing power grab" targeting him. Its financial director, Clotilde Delbos, will be in charge of the interim. The Board of Directors is looking for a new Executive Director.

Crossing the desert. Publicis' business will contract by 2.5% this year on an organic basis, the company said on the sidelines of its third quarter revenue release. After a first warning, he had already indicated that he was expecting stability. Faced with a difficult US market, the group also lowered its anticipation for 2020, with an activity whose evolution will be between -2% and +1%, against +4% previously forecast. Margins and profits will be at the bottom of the range of expectations this year.

Euronext has a plan. The group has published its strategic plan for the period up to 2022, with a slight organic growth of 2 to 3% per year. The Ebitda margin is expected to increase from 57% in 2018 to more than 60% in 2022. The operator of the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Brussels, Lisbon, Dublin and Oslo stock exchanges wants to "create a pan-European leader in market infrastructures and seize opportunities", underlined Euronext Director Stéphane Boujnah.

Bye-bye Bill. SAP AG CEO Bill McDermott will hand over to a duo of Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein. McDermott has spent ten years transforming the company, which has recently returned to a positive dynamic. He said last night that his departure had nothing to do with the presence of activist shareholder Elliott in the capital.

Status quo. Mary Barra, the boss of General Motors, has stepped up to the plate with UAW union representatives to try to find a way out of the 25-day crisis and paralyses part of the group's production in the USA, but no progress has so far been visible in the negotiations. WSJ reports a meeting on Wednesday between Barra and the UAW president. The issue of wages has still not been resolved. GM had not had such a long strike since 1970.

The B737 not Max. Boeing is definitely having problems with its B737. The NG version of the aircraft, which is the upgraded version of the original B737, sold before the development of the B737 MAX, also has concerns. The aircraft manufacturer indicated that after inspecting 810 of these aircraft, structural cracks were identified on 38 of them, requiring repair or replacement. Not really enough to restore the industrialist's reputation.

In other news. The Fed has reduced the regulatory requirements (capital and liquidity) of banks operating in its territory, except for systemic institutions. Dufry is acquiring the rights to operate 34 Bookstone stores at U.S. airports. Toyota Motor unveiled a new hydrogen sedan, Mirai. Nike, Inc. is reportedly closing its controversial Nike Oregon Project unit after head coach Alberto Salazar was banned for four years for a doping case. The boss of Walmart's American network, Greg Foran, will leave the group. Dyson stops his projects in the electric car sector. WeWork has to refinance itself at the risk of liquidity problems at the end of November, according to the Financial Times.