US MARKETS:

S&P 500 futures up 0.7% to 2,918.75
Brent futures up 1.2% to $60.76/bbl
Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,500.18
US Dollar Index little changed at 98.22

GLOBAL NEWS:

Earnings season: Analog Devices, RBC, Target, and Synopsys are among companies reporting earnings today.

Norway’s fund grows despite negative rates. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund gained 3% in the second quarter, despite negative rates. Its stock and bond portfolios each returned 3%. Equities account for 69% of its total capital of €920 billion. A quarter of its bond investments bear a negative rate.

Walmart is suing Tesla for defective solar panels. At least seven stores of the distribution giant are reported to have caught fire in the United States because of the solar panels installed by Elon Musk's engineers. This comes at a bad time for Tesla, which is trying to revive its solar energy business.

Marvel withdraws from the Spider-Man franchise. Marvel Studios will no longer release future Spider Man films as it failed to reach an agreement with competitor Sony. This is despite the recent financial successes of the latest Spider-Man movies. The studio is therefore withdrawing from the production of the next two films planned under contract.

Alibaba postpones Hong Kong IPO. Alibaba is postponing its IPO in Hong Kong until further notice, due to the ongoing political unrest in the territory, Reuters reports. The operation would allow the Chinese e-commerce giant to raise up to $15 billion. It has already raised a record $25 billion from its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

Low demand for Germany's first auction of 30-year bonds. According to Bloomberg, the government sold 824 million euros of the bunds, less than the 2 billion euros it had forecast, at a yield of -0.11%.

Huawei in Iran. The Chinese giant has an office in Iran said Meng Wanzhou, on bail in Canada as she fights extradition to the U.S. She made the admission during a three-hour detention at Vancouver airport in December, Bloomberg reports.