US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.8% to 2,676.00

Brent futures down 0.8% to $66.23/bbl

Gold spot little changed at $1,223.14

US Dollar Index up 0.1% to 96.29


GLOBAL NEWS:

Expected data. It includes housing starts and building permits.

Earnings season. Best Buy, Campbell Soup, Lowe’s, Medtronic,Target, TJX, and Gap are among companies reporting earnings.

Boston Scientific buys BTG. US medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp has agreed to buy Britain’s BTG Plc for $4.24 billion in cash, adding technology to fight cancer and other diseases to its portfolio.

SocGen is settling its American litigation. This has been expected for some time now: French bank Société Générale will pay $1.34 billion to the American authorities to close investigations into violations of the economic embargo imposed by Washington against Cuba, Iran and Sudan, starting as far back as 2003 and extending to 2013. This is a level in line with the provisions set aside by the bank.

Ghosn's succession. Nissan and Mitsubishi fell this morning by more than 5% as their CEO is caught in an unprecedented storm. He is accused of under-reporting its salary, which should see him lose his mandates. Renault, which is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, is planning an early Board meeting.

Bic Sport soon to be sold. The group has received an offer from Tahe Outdoors to purchase its sports division, which would be valued between €6 and €9 million, Bic said.

Schneider on standby in India. The Indian authorities have opened an in-depth investigation into Schneider's takeover of Larsen & Toubro's WSS activities. The group is taking its trouble in patience.

The DB is justified. Deutsche Bank carried out transactions in Estonia on behalf of Danske Bank, which was accused of laundering large amounts of capital, but stopped doing so in 2015 after discovering suspicious practices.

Tech-purge. Apple and Nvidia are weighing on the American market and are contributing to the new 3% drop in the Nasdaq. Same thing for Facebook, Amazon or Netflix. The market is reluctant to pay as much as before for companies in the sector, and signs of a slowdown are emerging.

Sandoz innovates. The Novartis subsidiary has obtained the green light from the FDA to sell a digital treatment against inappropriate substance use, called Reset, developed with Pear Pharma. This digital pill allows practitioners to remotely monitor their patients' medication or substance use.