GLOBAL MARKETS LIVE: Kering, Amazon.com, Boeing, Oracle…

The Impeachment procedure initiated by the Democrats did not prevent a big rebound on Wall Street, with a Nasdaq 100 rising to 7800 points (+1.2%), during the Dow Jones and the S&P500 winning 0.6%. In Europe, the American traction force was not sufficient to halt the decline, fueled by a few heavy goods vehicles, including LVMH, all of whose products are on the list that the United States is likely to overtax once the WTO has rendered its verdict in the EU/Airbus vs US/Boeing case. In the United States, Ericsson will pay a high price to stop an investigation, while Facebook may also face legal costs in the coming years. US stock index futures rise with Asian and European shares.

US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 2,991.75

Brent futures up 0.2% to $62.51/bbl

Gold spot up 0.3% to $1,507.92

US Dollar Index up 0.1% to 99.10

 

GLOBAL NEWS:

Europe targeted. European companies in general and French companies in particular in the aeronautics, luxury products (LVMH, Kering...) and wines and spirits sectors (Pernod Ricard, Rémy Cointreau...) are worried that the United States will impose customs sanctions of up to $8 billion, authorized by the WTO in retaliation for the state aid granted to Airbus. The WTO report is expected to pe published in the coming days.

Negative rates. Kering places €550 million of bonds exchangeable for Puma shares, more than the €500 million expected thanks to strong demand. Kering still owns 15.85% of Puma's capital. The yield on maturing convertibles (2022) is calculated at -2.78%. They make it possible to acquire Puma shares at EUR 92.17, i.e. a premium of 35% over the recent prices of the German company.

Another warning. Salzgitter issued a warning on its 2019 results on September 26. The steelmaker has indicated that it will increase its provisions by €140 million as part of the cartel investigation conducted by the German authorities. The annual pre-tax profit of the operations is expected to be between €125 million and €175 million, but the overall pre-tax result will be negative.

Very expensive investigation. Ericsson has revealed that its quarterly accounts will be charged SEK 12 billion (about $1.3 billion) to shut down an anti-corruption investigation in the United States. However, the final settlement of the dispute has not yet been approved. The amount may therefore change.

Slips.  The warning issued by International Consolidated Airlines caused damage to the stock, but not as much as Imperial Brands or Pearson. ABN Amro also fell sharply while the bank was under investigation.

Procedures are accumulating. The American justice system will open an antitrust investigation against Facebook, Reuters has learned. The Department of Justice would be the instigator. The Californian is already under investigation by the FTC, several Attorneys General and the Judicial Commission of the House of Representatives.

In other news. Amazon.com wants to get its virtual assistant Alexa into the connected clothes. The Clayton, Dubilier & Rice fund will buy Socotec for €1.8 billion. Juul's CEO has resigned while Philip Morris and Altria have given up their merger talks. As rumors have it, Boeing will radically restructure its engineering to avoid a case like the B737 MAX. Oracle confirmed that the US court had asked it for information about Google's practices. According to the Financial Times, Softbank is negotiating an increase in its investment in WeWork. Comco approves the acquisition of UPC Switzerland by Sunrise Communications.