US MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures down 1% to 2,569.00

-Brent futures down 1.8% to $59.40/bbl

-Gold spot up 0.3% to $1,294.05

-US Dollar Index little changed at 95.67


GLOBAL NEWS:

Newmont buys Goldcorp in a $10 billion equity transaction. The American mining group Newmont Mining Corporation just announced an agreement to acquire its Canadian competitor Goldcorp through a $10 billion equity transaction, expected to create the world's leading gold producer.

PG&E to exit as bankruptcy looms. PG&E said it will file for bankruptcy in California after the cost of wildfires left it with potential liabilities of $30 billion or more, Bloomberg reports. This led to the departure of its chief executive officer, Geisha Williams.

Doubts. After the European antitrust, it seems to be the turn of his German counterpart to worry about the merger between Alstom and Siemens Mobility, according to "FAZ". The two regulators are allegedly on the same wavelength when it comes to the consequences of the merger.

To Oslo. Euronext has filed its takeover bid on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Bors), with an offer denominated at NOK 145 per share, representing a value of €625 million for the entire share capital.

Saga Ghosn. José Munoz, a senior executive of Nissan and close to Carlos Ghosn, has resigned. Meanwhile, Ghosn's wife is appealing to Human Rights Watch about the conditions of her husband's detention. And the French press refers to a €7 million payment by a joint venture of Nissan and Mitsubishi, which is of interest to the Japanese prosecutor's office.

Dialog at the bottom of the range. The German group announced that its provisional revenues for the fourth quarter reached $431 million, at the low end of the $430 to 470 million target range. Dialog Semiconductor is highly dependent on Apple.

Lower margins for Continental. The automotive supplier has warned that its margins will decline in 2019, in the 8 to 9% zone against 9.2% in 2018. Continental's revenue is expected to be in the range of €45-47 billion in 2019, up from €44.4 billion in 2018.

Embroidered Amazon. A survey by French TV show 'Capital' shows that the group is destroying hundreds of thousands of new unsold products, causing an uproar in the country. A journalist was hired on Amazon's platform in Saran, France, to see the destruction.

VW still pointed to. The automotive authority in Germany could order the recall of Volkswagen's polluting vehicles, reports Bild. KBA is now reportedly investigating software for cars with 1.2-litre engines, including the Polo.

T-Systems is streamlined. The mainframe division of T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom) could be sold to IBM, according to the Handelsblatt, for an amount of €860 million. T-Systems should remain in the capital.

Dead end. The automotive sector is meeting today at the Detroit Motor Show, which has lost some its splendor and is suffering from the current environment characterized by trade barriers. Most high-end manufacturers are absent. However, Ford and Volkswagen are expected to present details of a new alliance on Tuesday.

In other news. The German government continues to examine a possible merger between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, says FAZ. Huawei fired the employee accused of spying in Poland. SpaceX is axing 600 people out of 6,000 employees. China will double its foreign investment quota. Viacom will negotiate the sale of the controlling interest in its Chinese subsidiary. Rio Tinto declares force majeure on certain ferrous products after a fire. Hemorrhaging of senior executives at AstraZeneca. Banco BPM does not want an alliance at this time. The German regulator is interested in Facebook and how it uses the data. JD Sports Fashion will be at the top of the range of expectations of the market.