US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.1% to 2,879.75
Brent futures up 0.7% to $59.12/bbl
Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,530.84
US Dollar Index down 0.2% to 97.93

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season: Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Autodesk, Veeva and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are among companies reporting earnings today in North America. Bunzl, Polymetal, Flughafen Zuerich and Royal Unibrew in Europe.

Surprise separation. TechnipFMC will split into two listed companies: an integrated service and technology provider and an engineering and construction specialist: the transaction will be carried out by splitting the Onshore/Offshore segment based in Paris (provisionally named "SpinCo", the split company). The rest of the scope, currently called "RemainCo" (the retained company), will be refocused on Subsea activities. This is a surprise for the market, which did not expect such a transaction three years after the merger of Technip and FMC. Moody's has a negative credit opinion on this separation. It will be interesting to watch for the reactions of specialists, after the severe criticism of the "merger" between the French flagship group Technip and the American group FMC, which had in fact taken over the group's quality assets.

Brazil won't take any help. LVMH made a pledge to donate of €10 million to help fight fires in the Amazon. The luxury group has decided to join the initiative launched by Emmanuel Macron over the weekend at the G7. But the Brazilian presidency has abruptly declined the group's assistance, despite the raging fires that are not under control. "Macron can't even avoid a foreseeable fire in a church that is part of the world heritage of humanity, and he wants to give us lessons for our country," mocked Jair Bolsonaro's chief of staff.

Express authorization. Suning.com has received the approval of the Chinese authorities to buy 80% of Carrefour China. The announcement was made during the European session yesterday, but had little impact on the share price of the French distributor, which last Friday announced the sale of control of its loss-making subsidiary for €1.4 billion in enterprise value and €620 million in sale proceeds. A good price, according to analysts.

Car giant. Ferdinand Piëch, the former owner of Volkswagen AG and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, died at the age of 82. The information was reported by the daily newspaper Bild. The director held several positions in the family business, until he became chairman of the management board between 1993 and 2002, then chairman of the board from 2002 to 2015. The VW group includes the eponymous brand but also many others such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Porsche or MAN.

J&J punished in Oklahoma. Johnson & Johnson was found guilty of contributing to the opioid overuse crisis in Oklahoma State and sentenced by a judge to $572 million in damages. Despite its importance, this amount is lower than analysts expected, which has led to a positive response from the post-closing action. The court considers that the Janssen laboratory, a subsidiary of J&J, used misleading marketing practices that contributed to the crisis related to painkiller dependence in the United States. Nearly 2,000 other complaints are being investigated across the country in this case.

Chip wars. GlobalFoundries is attacking its rival Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) in the judicial field. The complaints relate in particular to intellectual property issues. The complaints were filed in the United States and Germany on Monday. Among the requests, there was a ban on the import into the United States and Germany of certain products fitted to prestigious brands, including Apple.

In other news. Glencore is investing in First Cobalt. Papa John's should appoint Rob Lynch (Arby's Restaurant) as CEO, Bloomberg learned. KFC will test (on a single day in a single restaurant!) chicken wings and vegetable protein nuggets provided by Beyond Meat. Clariant is increasing its production capacity in China.