Oil rises as US prepares new sanctions against Russia Business

gHello.

Oil prices started to rise again this morning amid growing expectations of further sanctions against Russia.

The United States said it would announce new measures against Moscow this week, including potential restrictions on energy supplies.

French President Emmanuel Macron also called for a ban on oil and coal imports from Russia, but refrained from targeting gas.

This comes in response to growing evidence that Russian troops have committed atrocities against civilians in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns.

Benchmark Brent crude rose 1.8% to top $109 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hit $105.

5 things to start your day

1) Oxford start-up claims major breakthrough in nuclear fusion First Light Fusion claims its method is simpler and more energy efficient than competing approaches

2) Why Elon Musk spent $3 billion on a slice of Twitter The world’s richest man enjoyed a close working relationship with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey

3) From Countdown to It’s A Sin: the inside story of Britain’s most controversial broadcaster Channel 4 supporters say government push for privatization is punishment for leftist stance

4) Joe Biden has called Rupert Murdoch ‘the most dangerous man alive’ US president calls Fox News ‘destructive’, New York Times reporters book says

5) Sunak orders Royal Mint to jump on NFT train The move to sell ‘non-fungible tokens’ is part of attempts to show Britain is open to cryptocurrency businesses

What happened overnight

• Russia’s final sovereign bond coupon payments were halted by the US Treasury on Monday evening, bringing it closer to a historic default. A U.S. Treasury spokeswoman said: “Today is the deadline for Russia to make another debt payment. Effective today, the U.S. Treasury will not authorize any debt payments in dollars from Russian government accounts at U.S. financial institutions. Russia must choose between depleting precious dollar reserves or coming in new revenue, or defaulting.”
• Trade was tepid in Asia, with Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei closed for the holidays. Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Jakarta and Wellington rose slightly, while Seoul and Manila fell.

coming today

• Business : HomeServe, Moonpig (commercial update)
• Economy: Service performance index (UK, EU, US)Compound PMI (EU, US)