US MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures up 0.1% to 2,822.75
-Brent futures up 0.8% to $68.09/bbl
-Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,302.26
-US Dollar Index up 0.1% to 96.65

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. Assicurazioni Generali, Bolloré, Casino, Lufthansa, Econocom, Korian, Lanxess, Leonardo, Rallye, RTL, Stef, RWE, Tessenderlo are among companies reporting in Europe. Oracle, Adobe, Broadcom and Charles Schwab in the United States.

The B737MAX stays grounded. The United States have finally grounded the Boeing's B737MAX after the first elements of the Ethiopian Airlines crash investigation revealed similarities with the Lion Air investigation, which had taken place five months earlier. This is a major blow for the aircraft manufacturer, who will have to react quickly to resume deliveries of his best-seller.

Bad pass. A global blackout has affected Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp services since Wednesday afternoon, in whole or in part depending on the services and regions. Worries persisted early Thursday morning. The American giant is also be the subject of new federal investigations into the use of its users' data, according to the American press.

Traton will wait. Volkswagen has postponed the listing of its truck subsidiary, Traton, until further notice. The manufacturer considers that the current market conditions are not favorable.

The talcum powder case. The California court is awarding $29 million to a woman with cancer who used Johnson & Johnson talcum powder. The group will appeal. This case caused Imerys' talc subsidiary in the United States, which supplied the raw material to J&J, to be placed under Chapter 11. The entity was initially a defendant in the California case, but was removed from the case after it was placed under protection.

End of the embargo. Chinese customs have lifted the blockade on Tesla Model 3 imports, a spokesman for Tesla told Reuters. The system had been in place since last week. In addition, Zachary Kirkhorn has been appointed Chief Financial Officer.

GE on the bridge. General Electric is presenting its medium-term outlook today. Priority is given to debt reduction and reorganization, which will involve further disposals. The 2019 objectives are below expectations.

The epilogue. Thales has set March 28 as the closing date for its takeover bid for Gemalto. But the buyer had to waive the condition relating to the approval of Russian antitrust, which remains silent. All other regulatory authorities have authorized the transaction. The friendly takeover bid is denominated at EUR 51 per share.

Blurred vision. The strong tensions at EssilorLuxottica regarding the choice of senior management will be discussed during a Board of Directors meeting scheduled for March 18. The main shareholder and executive chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, wants Francesco Milleri to become chief executive, but Essilor is opposed to this on the grounds that it is not provided for in the merger agreement. Yet another Franco-Italian arm-wrestling match.

In vino veritas? Pernod Ricard shares went up sharply yesterday, on rumors of the sale of its wine division. The news came from the Bloomberg agency, based on a well-informed source. The scope represents approximately $500 million in annual revenues. This is not the first time this rumor has spread. But yesterday, it brought the title to its highest level ever. This does not prevent the company from being under pressure from the activist fund Elliott, which wants it to make the necessary efforts to raise its ratios to the level of those of its rival Diageo.

In other news. Fiat Chrysler is recalling 965,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada due to a problem of higher than regulatory pollutant emissions. Softbank will negotiate a $1 billion investment in Uber's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, the Wall Street Journal reported.