US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures up 0.3% to 2,984.75
Brent futures up 2.4% to $63.94/bbl
Gold spot little changed to $1,425.58
U.S. Dollar Index little changed 97.20

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. Philips, Julius Baer, Logitech and Icade in Europe. TD Ameritrade, Cadence Design, Halliburton, Celanese or Whirlpool in the United States.

Elliott on the lookout on Altran. The activist fund has informed the AMF that it has increased its long position in the Altran case, which is currently being bought out by Capgemini. His intentions are not very clear.

M&P on the offensive. Maurel and Prom approached Amerisur Resources for a cash and securities buyback, based on an equity valuation of $257 million, resulting in GBP 17 per share. The London-listed company saw its share price soar by 36.5% on Friday amid rumors of a buyback, to GBP 16.52. "This combination would result in a balanced portfolio of production assets, with a wide range of high-impact exploration and development opportunities in Latin America and Africa," the oil exploration company argues. Discussions have started with several "major shareholders" of Amerisur. The latter quickly indicated that the offer is too cheap and that several other contenders are interested in the assets. The game is just beginning.

Mickey superheroes. Avengers: Walt Disney's Endgame dethrones Avatar as the greatest success in box office history. Since its release in April, the film, the 22nd in the Marvel universe series, has raised $2.79 billion. It cost about $500 million. Avatar has generated $2.789 billion since its release in 2009: it is now also a Disney movie, since the acquisition of Century Fox a few months ago.

Volkswagen ready to lighten up. The American Cummins reportedly offered to buy Volkswagen's MAN Energy Solutions division, an entity specializing in large diesel engines for boats and generators. This subsidiary could be valued at approximately €3 billion. She was not part of the Traton IPO. The parties preferred to remain silent at this stage.

Speculation. Ted Baker shares are on the rise in London, after the Sunday Times announced that the former CEO is ready to support a buyout by investment funds. The title is awarded 12% to GBP 938.50 in substantial volumes. Ray Kelvin, forced to resign on charges of harassment of employees, including forced hugs, holds nearly 35% of the capital.

In other news. Olivier Le Peuch of France will take over the management of Schlumberger. Equifax close to paying $700 million for the 2017 mega data leak, according to the Wall Street Journal. China has 25 technology companies listed on Star, the market that seeks to resemble Nasdaq by favoring technology and biotechnology companies. United States Steel will cut 2500 jobs in Slovakia in two years, challenging cheap steel imports into the EU. Clariant sells its health packaging division for CHF 308 million. SGS acquires DMW Environmental Safety.