U.S. MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures up 1% to 2,786.00

-Brent Futures up 1.5% to $73.20/bbl

-Gold spot up 0.6% to $1,234.44

-U.S. Dollar Index down 0.6% to 95.79


GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. Mortgage applications data is due, as well as earnings from various companies including Qualcomm, Prudential and Rockwell Automation.

Virtu to buy ITG. Virtu Financial Inc. agreed to buy Investment Technology Group Inc. for about $1 billion, giving the high-speed trading firm a brokerage that has relationships with big institutional investors.

SoftBank IPO. SoftBank Group Corp. is seeking to raise a record 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) from Japanese individuals in the initial public offering of its mobile phone unit, targeting investors who often get no interest on their savings, said people familiar with the matter quoted by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Middle East. Softbank wants to launch its giant solar power plant project in Saudi Arabia, despite the controversy created by the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

BMW issue disappointing outlook for 2019 after profits dip. BMW AG expects a sluggish start for the autos sector next year, saying its business will need to prepare for challenges ranging from trade wars to Brexit fallout and the task of meeting tightening regulation on emissions. The luxury carmaker reported third- quarter earnings that missed expectations.

Not overtaxed. Moody's believes that the deployment of 5G will have a neutral credit effect on telecommunications operators in Europe.

Pepsi and chips. PepsiCo wants to buy the British chip specialist Piper Crisps. The American already owns Dorito and Walker Crisps in the sector. The information was revealed by the BBC.

Thoma Bravo eyes Symantec. The Thoma Bravo fund is allegedly interested in Symantec, according to Reuters. The company weighs 20 billion euros ($23 billion) – with 15 billion euros in capitalization and 5 billion euros in debt - which would make it the largest LBO in history.

Slimming. Berenberg will lay off about 100 staff in equity trading. The German bank explained that this was planned and expected. It employs approximately 1,600 people in London.

AMD superstar. Already favored on the stock market since January 1st, Advanced Micro Devices flared up again yesterday after being selected by Amazon for the group's data centers.