The document revealing draft plan to protect UK economy from trade sanctions March 3, 2014 A LEAKED government document has revealed plans to protect the UK economy and financial interests in London by avoiding UK trade sanctions against Russia. The papers, understood to be draft notes ahead of a meeting of the National Security Council in Downing Street yesterday, said ministers “should not support for now trade sanctions or close [...]
Warning that fuel prices could rise by 5p per litre March 3, 2014 ENERGY prices on the world markets jumped yesterday as turmoil in Ukraine pushed panicked traders to snap up supplies. Petrol prices could rise by as much as five pence per litre, the RAC warned, as Russia’s actions threaten to squeeze the supply of energy. Such a jump would reverse much of the fall in prices [...]
A trade war with Russia would be Lehman Bros 2 March 3, 2014 MORALITY and foreign policy make uneasy bedfellows. In 1997, when Tony Blair called for an ethical foreign policy, the country cheered; 17 years later, any politician calling for such idealism would be laughed out of town. After 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia, the Arab Spring and so on, a battlehardened realism is the order of the [...]
Worst day for Russian market since 2008 crash March 3, 2014 RUSSIAN stocks dived by 11 per cent yesterday, wiping around $60bn (£36bn) from the value of the companies – a loss of value even greater than the $51bn cost of the Sochi olympics. The country’s central bank hiked interest rates in an effort to stem the flood of money out of the country, attempting to [...]
Bottom Line: Three stocks that stand to lose big from the escalating market chaos March 3, 2014 1 BPTHE MOST exposed to Russia of the FTSE’s energy majors slumped 2.28 per cent yesterday despite a similar rise in the cost of brent crude. A hotly contested deal in 2012 saw BP take on a 19.75 per cent stake in Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft – whose shares dropped 4.1 per cent in [...]
Boris: Increase council tax and cut business rates in the capital March 3, 2014 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson has called for a cut to business rates and increases to council tax for those who own expensive homes in London. Speaking at a Communities and Local Government select committee yesterday the Mayor said businesses are being “clobbered” by high rates while rich homeowners pay low rates of tax as council [...]
London Report: Ukraine unrest drags on FTSE as volatility climbs March 3, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a two-week low yesterday, led down by asset management firms as stocks most exposed to emerging markets fell on increasing tensions in Ukraine. The possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine hit stocks that are particularly sensitive to optimism over global markets, such as fund managers Schroders and Aberdeen [...]
New York Report: US stocks fall despite strong factory activity March 3, 2014 US STOCKS tumbled yesterday alongside other risky assets globally as tensions in Ukraine and Russia escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour. News that Ukraine mobilised for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically overshadowed better-than-expected US data, including an index showing that factory [...]
Letters to the Editor – 04/03 – Ukraine crisis, Best of Twitter March 3, 2014 Ukraine crisis [Re: Russia’s Ukraine attack is end of Pax Americana, yesterday] A missile defence umbrella would represent a pointless and long-term burden, and is unlikely to restrain future Russian expansionism. The US and Europe are widely regarded as militarily incapable, and the expenditure of lives and money in Iraq and Afghanistan has proven a [...]
Ukraine conflict adds to perfect storm for international markets March 3, 2014 And investors should expect rising levels of geopolitical risk Market risk sentiment quickly unraveled yesterday, as investors reacted to what has been termed the biggest threat to European security this century. As Russian troops massed in Crimea, stocks in Moscow’s MICEX index crashed by around 9 per cent on the open (see graph), with the [...]