10 things you need to know before European markets open

Good morning! Here's what you need to know.

US stocks and oil went nowhere. Stocks started the week with an "aggressively unchanged" day with only the S&P 500 moving more than 0.2% on the day, while oil was down 0.5%.

Nissan is placing its tech chief with Mitsubishi. The company, which plans to spend $2.2 billion on a one-third controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors, aims to place its former global tech chief in charge of reform at its smaller rival, which is mired in a fuel economy data scandal.

The LSE has a celebrity professor. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie is to join the London School of Economics as a visiting professor on a new masters course on women, peace and security, the school announced on Monday.

The EU gave the thumbs up to an anti-smoking cure. European regulators have lifted a warning on Pfizer's smoking cessation drug Champix - called Chantix in the United States - after a clinical study concluded it did not appear to increase the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects.

The US might see higher inflation and higher interest rates. A relatively tight labor market in the United States may put upward pressure on inflation, raising the case for higher interest rates, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Monday.

VW should get another audit. German investors' association DSW called for an independent audit of Volkswagen's emissions test-rigging scandal in addition to the carmaker's internal probe.

Brexit would be a disaster. Britain would lose at least half a million jobs within two years of a vote to leave the European Union and a fall in the value of the pound would push up inflation sharply, finance minister George Osborne said.

The metals warehousing business is heating up. The CME Group is talking to several warehouse companies to expand its metal storage network globally, a move that could further challenge the London Metal Exchange's (LME) dominance.

AXA is quitting tobacco. France's biggest insurance group AXA said it was pulling out of the tobacco industry, divesting about €1.8 billion ($2 billion) of assets in the sector as part of the fight against smoking.

Bayer has made a play for Monsanto. German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer on Monday said it had offered $62 billion (55 billion euros) for the US agriculture group Monsanto in a move which would create the world's biggest supplier of pesticides, seeds and fertilizer.