US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.2% to 2,868.00
Brent Futures up 0.4% to $70.65/bbl
Gold spot up 0.06% to $1,284.84
US Dollar Index up 0.05% to 97.42


GLOBAL MARKETS:

Earnings season. Linde, Marriott, Telefonica, Sonos, Deutsche Post, JD.Com, Atlantia and Viacom are among companies reporting earnings today.

Antitrust. One of Facebook's co-founders advocates a split into three entities. Chris Hughes, who sold his shares in 2012, accuses Mark Zuckerberg of sacrificing users' privacy to the "click" cult. Hughes believes at the very least that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram should be separated again.

IPOs on all floors. ThyssenKrupp went up 10% during the session, boosted by the prospect of an IPO of its elevator subsidiary, instead of a split of the group, according to information obtained by Reuters.

Uber joins Lyft. Uber sets the price of its IPO at USD 45 per share, at the bottom of the expected range of USD 44 to 50. This does not prevent the famous American service from capitalizing more than $82 billion, but far from the $120 billion that its bankers had hoped for in 2018. The stock market setbacks of the recently introduced competitor Lyft and market conditions have led to a certain caution on the part of investors.

New round. Newspaper Le Monde brought Monsanto (Bayer) to court after discovering that the group is keeping files on its opponents regarding glyphosate, including many journalists, illegally, according to the publication.

Catching up. Kering will pay €1.25 billion to the Italian tax authorities to settle their dispute over Gucci's tax optimization. The amount paid is higher than Jefferies' design office feared, even if it is rather in line with recent rumors. However, the group is strong enough to ensure that this exceptional event does not hinder its ascent. As for the impact on brand image, that's another matter.

LafargeHolcim gets thinner. The cement company sold its activities in the Philippines for $2.15 billion to San Miguel. The group's refocusing continues, since last week it sold its divisions in Malaysia and Singapore, after its Indonesian subsidiary in 2018. LafargeHolcim was seeking to withdraw from markets in Southeast Asia, which were considered too competitive.

Towards a compromise? EssilorLuxottica is working on a power-sharing agreement between Laurent Vacherot and Francesco Milleri to settle their governance disputes, according to French newspaper Le Figaro, who cites sources close to French management. The rumor initially came from La Repubblica.

Fines in the pipeline. HSBC bank, Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS, plus a Japanese bank, will soon be fined by the European Commission for manipulation of the dollar foreign exchange market, Reuters learned. Some of the institutions had already been sanctioned in the US side of the case. Only Credit Suisse still disputes the conclusions and did not wish to settle.

In other news, Anheuser Busch InBev officially submits the application for the initial public offering of its Asian activities in Hong Kong. Symantec's boss resigns against all odds. Vale in losses after the cost of the effects of the disaster in Brazil. Adecco issues €300 million in bonds.