FTSE 100 followed the lead from Asia and rose slightly in early trades even though the fighting in Ukraine is intensifying with Russia said to be close to laying siege to several major cities. London’s blue-chip index was up 25 at 7,482 in early deals.
Shell will exit its joint ventures with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, it has confirmed. This decision, which will impact its business by US$3bn, follows BP’s decision to dump its stake in partner Rosneft (AIM:ROSN).
Leading cryptocurrencies surged ahead as Russia and Ukraine have started to use the digital currencies after the financial sanctions imposed on Russia. People in the warzone are relying on Bitcoin to get their funds out of the traditional system.
Elon Musk and his space exploration company, SpaceX, have activated Starlink connectivity and delivered several user terminals to Ukraine to assist citizens who may have had their internet disrupted as a result of the Russian invasion.
The countries vice-president tweeted a plea to Musk over the weekend, with the billionaire responding that the service was activated on Saturday and that more terminals would be arriving
Away from the war, Flutter Entertainment shares dropped 8% as losses rose even though it grew revenues and customers last year. The online gambling company boosted revenues by 37% last year but sales are only 2% ahead so far in 2022.
Among the small caps, Allergy Therapeutics released new data which shows its grass pollen vaccine can slash hay fever symptoms, such as sneezing, by roughly 40%. The results from the trial, Grass MATA MPL, were better in comparison to the placebo group previously reported.
Advanced Oncotherapy said it was making significant progress with the rolling provision of data to the US regulator as it updated on the timeline for having its next-generation proton beam therapy system fully operational. AVO is making what’s called a Q-submission to Food & Drug Administration with the aim of securing approval for its LIGHT technology for cancer treatment.