Good morning.
Shell could be forced to abandon its investment in a major Russian gas project after Putin threatened to seize rights to the facility.
The Kremlin said rights to the Sakhalin-2 plant would be transferred to a new Russian company, citing threats to the country’s national interests and economic security.
Shareholders have a month to say whether they will take shares in the new company, but have been warned they may not get their money back if they don’t.
The move could cause complications for Shell, which holds a 27.5% stake in Sakhalin-2.
The firm previously said it would sell its holdings – which Shell cut to $1.6bn (£1.3bn) earlier this year – with Chinese state-owned energy companies linked to a potential deal.
5 things to start your day with
1) BT workers to strike for first time since Thatcher’s privatization 40,000 staff to strike in broadband strike as they reject ‘unsustainable’ pay rise offer
2) How Heinz provokes Tesco in bean battle Showdown shines spotlight on supermarket-supplier tensions as inflation bites
3) Elon Musk escalates Tesla’s war on home working with ‘please explain’ emails Staff get automated communication if they don’t go to the office often enough
4) Growth in early retirement is fueling inflation, says Treasury’s top mandarin The exodus of nearly half a million workers from the labor market is hurting the economy
5) Amazon blocks LGBTQ searches in UAE after political pressure The online giant says it adheres to laws in the countries it operates
What happened in one night
Asian markets struggled again this morning after another sell-off on Wall Street fueled by recession fears, with warnings of a bleak outlook for the global economy as central banks hit the brakes to fight rising inflation.
Data showing that US consumers – the backbone of the world’s largest economy – are becoming more restrained in spending, dealt another blow to stocks on Thursday, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst January-June period since 1970 since then.
With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending – keeping energy costs high – there are expectations that borrowing costs will continue to rise and send economies into recession.
After a big pullback on Thursday in Asia, markets struggled to recover, but with little conviction.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei and Bangkok fell, although there were small gains in Sydney, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
It’s due today
- Enterprise: No updates planned
- Economy: Inflation (EU), Manufacturing PMI (UK, US, EU China), Mortgage Approvals (UK)
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