U.S. MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures down 0.1% to 2,877.25
Brent Futures down 0.05% to $58.54/bbl
Gold spot up 0.9% to $1,524.86
U.S. Dollar Index up 0.2% to 97.57

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season: JD.com, Premium Brands and Tilray are among companies reporting earnings today.

Verizon finally gets rid of Tumblr. Since May, Verizon has been looking to sell the Tumblr blogging platform, which is facing competition from other platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram. It has decided to sell Tumblr to Automattic, a group that owns WordPress. Tumblr was part of Yahoo's assets and was acquired six years ago for $1 billion. According to Axios, the selling price is considerably lower since it would be below $20 million.

Cathay’s shares tumble. Cathay Pacific Airways’ shares are close to their lowest level in a decade, after China criticized the airline for letting its employees join pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. They lost 4.5% to HK$9.84. The company now threatened to fire these employees. China’s civil aviation authority has asked the company to submit information about all crew members flying to China for verification and authorization.

Nike tests a subscription model. The sports equipment giant is rolling out a subscription offer for children aged 2 to 10. It has 3 subscription models, ranging from 4 to 12 pairs of shoes per year, priced between $ 20 ~ $ 50 per month.

Chinese investors are turning away from Europe. According to the consulting firm Ernst & Young, Chinese investments in Europe fell by 84% in the first half of the year. This is due to the growing mistrust of Europeans, but also to the restrictions imposed by Beijing on its entrepreneurs.

The Fed will launch its own instant payment network. The US Federal Reserve is working on a real-time payment system, which should be available by 2024. This scheme will allow American banks to benefit from an alternative to the private scheme created by the largest institutions.

GM and Volkswagen abandon hybrid cars. The two car manufacturers confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that they are focusing on the production of electric cars, so that they can better meet regulatory standards, particularly in China and Europe.