US MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures down 0.7% to 2,468.75

-Brent futures down 1.1% to $53.73/bbl

-Gold spot down 0.1% to $1,258.24

-US Dollar Index up 0.3% to 96.60


GLOBAL NEWS:

New charges for Ghosn. Carlos Ghosn wants to "restore his honour" as soon as a possible release on bail is approved today, even if it appears that the Japanese courts have pronounced new charges against Renault's boss and former boss of Nissan. Ghosn is therefore likely to spend Christmas locked up.

Nike's doing great. The group exceeded the consensus on its second fiscal quarter. Nike's share price rose sharply after the close, as investors feared bad news after a wave of warnings in specialist retailing.

Lemon criticizes Twitter. Lemon Research's bearish management is attacking Twitter, which unscrewed 11% at the bell yesterday on Wall Street. Lemon believes that society will not emerge unscathed from the need to clean up the application of increasing hate comments. She estimates that the stock is worth 20 USD (vs. 29.29 USD at the close yesterday).

Aperam gives up VDM. The stainless-steel specialist is throwing in the towel after the EU's objections to the operation. Aperam's management criticizes the antitrust policy. The enterprise value of VDM in the transaction was approximately €600 million.

Focus. Technicolor will prepay the EUR 90 million loan granted by the EIB before the end of the year. The company states that its Ebitda will be in line with the consensus (i.e. slightly lower than the initial objective) and that no discussion has been initiated on its Connected Home division.

SG is coming out of LBPF. Societe Generale has retroceded its 35% stake in La Banque Postale Financement to its co-shareholder, which will result in a charge of €35 million. The bank's CET1 ratio is expected to improve slightly.

Refocusing. Rémy Cointreau has signed the sale of its Czech and Slovak distribution to Mast-Jägermeister. The finalization is scheduled for April 1 after the green light from the regulatory authorities. A distribution agreement has been signed with the new owner.

Danske Bank issues warning. The Danish bank is warning about its 2018 targets. Danske Bank, hit by a major money laundering scandal, explained that market conditions have tightened. The annual net profit will be around DKK 15 billion, compared to the 16 to 17 expected so far.

In other news. Qualcomm wins a court victory in Germany against Apple. Delivery Hero sells its German subsidiary to Takeaway for €930 million. Two new directors at Pandora. Singapore will extend the 1MDB fund survey to Goldman Sachs. The EU grants an extension of registration to Novartis Kisqali.