U.S. MARKETS:

* S&P 500 futures down 0.8% to 2,725.00
* Brent futures down 0.9% to $75.75/bbl
* Gold spot little changed at $1,230.89
* U.S. Dollar Index up 0.3% to 96.28

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season. Many more results, including Kering, STMicroelectronics, Air Liquide, Safran, Vinci, Gecina, Scor, AT&T, Boeing, UPS, Ford, Microsoft, Tesla and Visa.

Promises, promises… Just six months into the job, Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing is conceding that the growth he promised remains elusive.

Handelsbanken announces layoffs. Svenska Handelsbanken AB said it will cut about 1,600 jobs as the board announced it is looking for a new chief executive officer to replace Anders Bouvin just two years after he started.

Missing expectations. AT&T reported adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter that missed the average analyst estimate.

Level crossing. Singapore allows the merger between Alstom and Siemens Mobility, but it is above all the EU verdict that will be important in a few weeks' time, and rumors are spreading that there are grievances.

Volkswagen dips. Shares fall as much as 3.8% after Jochem Heizmann, president and CEO at Volkswagen China Group, told Nikkei co. is likely to end the year with flat or even lower sales volume in China compared with last year.

Fast track. A rumor seen by Bloomberg indicates that China could abandon its heavy video game approval process, which is good news for Ubisoft.

Kering is king. Kering’s shares jumped Wednesday after the key Gucci brand beat estimates in the third quarter, extending its remarkable run into a third year as Chinese demand remained strong.

Naval Airbus? The boards of directors of Fincantieri and Naval Group (in which Thales is a shareholder) are ready to discuss a joint venture between equals.

Rubis is launching a takeover bid. The group announced this morning a takeover bid for Kenolkobil, presented as a leader in the distribution of petroleum products in East Africa.

Content warfare. Apple is considering launching its global video-on-demand service, another clear sign of the shift in the war from technology giants to content.

Mixed fortunes. Texas Instruments is falling post-closing after disappointing targets for Q4, while STMicroelectronics unveiled some rather robust figures this morning at first reading.

Back to the roots. Facebook simplifies Messenger, going back to the stacking of features. Messenger has 1.3 billion subscribers.

Back pedaling. Tesla rose sharply on the stock market yesterday after Citron Research decided to reverse its negative bias. A symbolic decision on the part of this recognized short seller.

The Macaroni effect. Moody's reduced the rating and/or outlook of several transalpine banks after the decision to downgrade the Italian sovereign rating, including Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca.

Various fortunes. The figures for Caterpillar, 3M Company and Texas Instruments were disappointing, unlike those for Verizon and McDonald's.