FTSE wiped £54bn off its value in market rout Business

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It’s a nervous start to the week for the markets after tensions between Russia and the West escalated further over the weekend.

Oil and gas prices both jumped at the start of trading on fears that a dispute could disrupt supplies and cause more chaos in already strained energy markets in Europe.

The FTSE 100 is expected to trail Asian equities in the red as markets open as the turmoil also hit equities.

It comes after the United States warned that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine within days. Boris Johnson will travel to European countries this week in a bid to unite Western allies.

5 things to start your day

1) The tax authorities carry out the very first seizure of NFT. UK authorities have made their first-ever NFT seizures, amid growing fears the digital art boom is offering new ways for criminals to hide money.

2) The satellite business picked up by Dominic Cummings is facing a fraud complaint from a Trump associate. Giorgi Rtskhiladze claims he was not paid to arrange space rocket launch rights for OneWeb in Kazakhstan.

3) Norfolk County Council is taking on the mighty Apple over a profit warning. The board says Tim Cook’s comments about the China request misled shareholders.

4) Uber will raise prices after the defeat of the High Court imposing a tax on the journeys. The ridesharing app will have to start charging VAT, which would increase prices by up to 20%.

5) EY is hiring 1,300 people to take advantage of the net zero rules. Accountancy firm creates ‘EY Carbon’ unit as part of £100m sustainability campaign.

What happened overnight

Asian action Markets fell on Monday and oil prices rose amid concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.6% to 26,970.34 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1% to 24,665.17. The Kospi in Seoul fell 1.6% to 2,703.06.

The Shanghai Composite lost 0.4pc to 3,448.46 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.6pc to 7,257.70. New Zealand and Jakarta fell, while Singapore was unchanged.

coming today

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