U.S. MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures little changed at 2,778.50

-Brent Futures up 1.3% to $71.06/bbl

-Gold spot down 0.2% to $1,207.13

-U.S. Dollar Index up 0.6% to 97.47


GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. UGI Corp. and AXA Equitable are among scheduled earnings.

Alibaba beats a record. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group posted a record $30.7 billion in sales on November 11 during Singles' Day, its annual 24-hour online retail frenzy. It recorded about $10 billion in sales in the first hour after midnight. This is the world's biggest online sales event, beating Black Friday.

Giant IPO in Japan. Softbank could raise up to $21 billion with the IPO of its mobile division, which was officially launched this morning in Tokyo. The final price will be known on November 30. 

BAT is sinking. British American Tobacco’s shares plummeted by 11% at the beginning of the week. Some report state that the FDA is planning to ban menthol cigarettes.

Total is developing in EMEA. The group will drill 13 new wells in Angola's offshore and recover 40% of the unconventional Ruwaus Diyad gas concession in Abu Dhabi, according to two separate press releases.

Trouble at TI. Telecom Italia had to deny rumors of the dismissal of Managing Director Amos Genish, supported by Vivendi. The press mentioned the holding of an extraordinary council to ratify a decision that would be supported by some directors, including those who had joined the Elliott Fund.

Briefly. Carrefour Brazil acquires e-midia. Archos raises €4.3 million. Implanet is financed by Nice & Green. Cybergun obtains the right to produce and sell category B weapons. Sanofi presents new positive data on Praluent from Odissey Outcomes.

SAP breaks its piggy bank. The German software publisher will spend $8 billion to buy Qualtrics, a specialist in "experience management" software. Qualtrics was preparing for its initial public offering. SAP will pay in cash.

Takeover bid on Apptio. Vista Equity Partners will buy Apptio for USD 1.94 billion, or USD 38 per share in cash. The share price of the IT company was 24.85 USD on Friday evening.

Saudis planning to cut oil supply. Saudi Arabia said oil producers should cut 1 million barrels a day from October levels. It already announced that it will export 500,000 fewer barrels a day in December, as market have been worrying about oversupply.

Cheaper Netflix. The film and series streaming company said it will test a lower-priced version of its service in some markets – such as Asia - to boost sales. However, it didn’t say exactly when or where the test would be conducted.