Oil prices: London stock exchange suspends 27 Russian listings as petrol prices soar - as it happened
Price of fuel shoots up as oil price continues to climb amid Putin’s war with Ukraine
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Your support makes all the difference.The London Stock Exchange said it has suspended trading 28 companies linked to Russia including gas giant Gazprom and the country’s second biggest lender Sberbank.
The LSE halted transactions in the shares with immediate effect on Thursday morning after prices plummeted following sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, UK petrol prices hit a new high of 151.67p per litre amid Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine.
As the conflict entered its second week, the price of oil soared and Brent crude - the benchmark - had the cost of a barrel at nearly $115 per barrel earlier on Thursday - the highest level in years.
This is in turn affecting the cost of petrol in the UK, which hit new highs on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the UK is on course to spend £6.3m per day on imports of Russian gas, potentially helping to fund the war in Ukraine, according to new analysis.
Around 4 per cent of the UK's gas demand is covered by Russian imports. At current high prices, that equates to £2.3bn in a year, The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit calculated.
The iPhone is on mute in Russia, where Apple has had to take sides
The tech giant has paused sales of its product, citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in a unilateral move that is notable for a company that has largely sought to avoid political controversy, writes James Moore.
Read his full piece here:
The iPhone is on mute in Russia, where Apple has had to take sides
The tech giant has paused sales of its product, citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in a unilateral move that is notable for a company that has largely sought to avoid political controversy, writes James Moore
ICYMI: UK businesses and fund managers scramble to cut ties with Russia’s Kremlin-linked firms
Western businesses and fund managers scrambled to cut ties with Kremlin-linked firms on Tuesday amid growing fears of damage to their reputations as Vladimir Putin stepped up Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine.
Fund managers in charge of trillions of pounds of savings, told The Independent that they had sold their investments in Russia or were overhauling their policies towards the country.
Our business correspondent Ben Chapman reports:
UK businesses and fund managers scramble to cut ties with Russia
British Gas, Total, and City fund managers in charge of trillions of pounds are rapidly dropping investments in Russia in response to Ukraine invasion
Ruble falls another 15 per cent against dollar
In currency markets, Russia’s ruble lost another 15% against the U.S. dollar and worth less than 1 cent.
It has plunged since Western governments imposed sanctions that cut off much of Russia’s access to the global financial system.
In Asian trading, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.7% to 26,577.27 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.6% to 22,467.34.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost less than 0.1% to 3,481.11.
The Kospi in Seoul added 1.6% to 2,747.08 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was 0.5% higher at 7,151.40.India’s Sensex shed 0.3% to 55,311.33.
New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also advanced.
Volkswage halts production of cars in Russia
German automaker Volkswagen says it is halting production of vehicles in Russia until further notice due to the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The VW Group said in a brief statement Thursday on Twitter that “vehicle exports to Russia will also be stopped with immediate effect.”
The company said it takes its “responsibility for the affected employees in Russia very seriously” and all those affected will receive short-time working benefits, paid by Volkswagen.
Full report: London Stock Exchange suspends trading in 28 Russian companies
The London Stock Exchange said it has suspended trading 28 companies linked to Russia including gas giant Gazprom and the country’s second biggest lender Sberbank.
The LSE halted transactions in the shares with immediate effect on Thursday morning after prices plummeted following sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Our business correspondent Ben Chapman has the story:
London Stock Exchange suspends trading in 28 Russian companies
LSE halts transactions in firms hit by sanctions and warns more may follow
ICYMI: What will Russia’s economic isolation from the west mean in practice?
There will be a tough adjustment in the months ahead, but the world can get along without Russia, writes Hamish McRae.
Read his full piece here:
What will Russia’s economic isolation from the west mean in practice? | Hamish McRae
There will be a tough adjustment in the months ahead, but the world can get along without Russia, writes Hamish McRae
US markets flat on opening
US markets were essentially flat in premarket trading while oil prices continued to climb as Russian forces bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city and besieged two ports.
The economic fallout from the Russian invasion expanded, with Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Ratings cutting Russia’s credit rating.
They said the invasion and Western sanctions have hurt Moscow’s ability to repay debts and raised risks for the economy and stability.
On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered between slight gains and losses a couple of hours before the market opens in New York.
NHS told to stop using energy supplied by Russian-owned Gazprom
Health secretary Sajid Javid has said the NHS must stop using energy supplied by the Russian-owned firm Gazprom.
A senior government told the PA News agency that Mr Javid has been in talks with NHS England over ending the contracts, which are reported by Politico to have been worth £16 million in 2021.
Jane Kirby has more:
NHS told to stop using energy supplied by Russian-owned Gazprom
More than a dozen NHS trusts are thought to be supplied by Gazprom, alongside several local councils.
ICYMI: Aviva reveals plans to sell off Russian equity investments
Insurance giant Aviva has become the latest fund manager to slash its exposure to Russia as it revealed plans to sell off its Russian equity investments in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
The group’s chief executive, Amanda Blanc, said it has “very minimal exposure”, with 0.1% – about £240 million – of its Aviva Investor funds in Russian equities.
Holly Williams has the story:
Aviva reveals plans to sell off Russian equity investments
The insurance giant has 0.1% – about £240 million – of its Aviva Investor funds invested in Russian equities.
Russia becoming ‘international pariah'
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown business plans into disarray and forced a growing number of the world’s best known brands — from Apple to Mercedes-Benz and BP — to pull out of a country that’s become a global outcast as companies seek to maintain their reputations and live up to corporate responsibility standards.
Investors were drawn to Russia in search of lucrative profits they thought were worth the geopolitical risks. That calculation has changed after Russia’s war triggered a wave of global sanctions and export restrictions that have thrown its economy into turmoil and disrupted the operations of multinational corporations there.
“You basically have Russia becoming a commercial pariah,” said economist Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “Pretty much no company, no multinational, wants to be caught on the wrong side of U.S. and Western sanctions.”
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