The earnings season is moving at full steam. Apple published quarterly reports on Tuesday evening that reassured analysts about the rise of the services industry. At Bayer, the situation is getting tougher despite the support shown by the Supervisory Board to the Management Board. US stock-index futures head up, while European stocks decline.


US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 2,928.25
Brent Futures down 0.8% to $71.59/bbl
Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,270.65
US Dollar Index down 0.1% to 97.55


GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. DowDupont, Gilead, Cigna, EOG Resources, Exelon, Royal Dutch Shell, BNP Paribas, AXA, Volkswagen, ING Groep, Carlsberg, Lloyds Banking Group, and Siemens Healthineers are among companies reporting earnings today.

Latest news on the B737 MAX crisis. Boeing is creating a position as advisor to the CEO, which will be held by Micheal Luttig, the group's current Secretary General. In addition, a parliamentary committee of the House of Representatives scheduled a hearing on May 15 on the B737 MAX and its certification program.

Apple Payroll. Qualcomm will receive between $4.5 billion and $4.7 billion as part of the agreement signed with Apple, whose results have also been recognized on the stock market and which has surpassed the $1 trillion mark in capitalization. While sales of iPhones are declining, other activities, particularly services, are developing well.

RAM stands out. Fiat Chrysler recorded a sharp drop in sales in the United States in April and will only publish its figures on a quarterly basis from July onwards. The manufacturer, which has been making headlines in recent weeks as a potential target for consolidation in the sector, is backing off on all its brands except RAM, the group's pickup truck brand.

LafargeHolcim is getting lighter. The cement company has sold its subsidiaries in Malaysia and Singapore. The sale of the Malaysian subsidiary will generate $396 million. The operation will slightly reduce LafargeHolcim's debt.

Limited authorization for Dengvaxia. The U.S. Drug Agency authorizes Sanofi's dengue fever vaccine, but with severe restrictions. Dengvaxia was only approved for people aged 9 to 16 years and not up to 45 years as requested by the laboratory, and only for subjects who have never been infected with dengue fever. The US Drug Agency has also imposed geographical limits.

Trouble at Bayer. Bayer AG's supervisory board is scheduled to meet quickly in an extraordinary meeting to discuss the group's governance crisis after the board of directors was disowned by shareholders over the takeover of Monsanto, according to WiWo. A meeting that could take place within two to three weeks. However, the Board recently assured its Executive Board of unanimous support.

In other news. Thomas Cook is expecting offers on his air transport subsidiary by May 7. Theresa May dismissed her defense minister over press leaks in the Huawei case. Panalpina has completed the acquisition of Newport Cargo.