Aurelia Butler

Good morning. The US has told allies that China signalled its willingness to provide military assistance after Russia requested equipment including surface-to-air missiles to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to officials familiar with American diplomatic cables on the exchange. Two officials familiar with the content of the cables said Washington had told allies that Russia had asked China for five types of equipment, including the surface-to-air missiles. The other categories were drones, intelligence-related equipment, armoured vehicles, and vehicles used for logistics and support. The cables, which were sent by the US state department to allies in Europe and Asia, were not specific about the level or timing of any assistance that may be provided to Moscow by Beijing. The Russian request and Chinese response have sounded alarm bells in the White House. US officials believe China is trying to help Russia while its top officials publicly call for a diplomatic solution to the war. Meanwhile, Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, met in Rome on Monday with Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign policy official, which another senior US official described as “an intense seven-hour session reflecting the gravity of the moment”.Tensions have only deepened as Chinese diplomats and prominent state media have repeated Russian disinformation reports about US-run biological laboratories in Ukraine.More on UkraineLatest from Ukraine: Russian forces allowed some trapped in Mariupol to leave as officials from Moscow and Kyiv held the fourth round of negotiations. A pregnant woman caught in last week’s Russian air strike that hit a Mariupol children’s hospital and maternity ward has died along with her baby.Markets: Some of the few Russian shares still trading on a global exchange are changing hands at a blistering pace in Hong Kong, but US banks refuse to touch them.Protests: A state television employee burst on to Russia’s main state television evening news broadcast on Monday to protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the most public sign yet of simmering domestic discontent.Sanctions: The UK government is preparing to sanction hundreds of individuals linked to Vladimir Putin as parliament fast-tracks legislation to crack down on the flow of “dirty money” into the country.Business: Bayer has threatened to suspend crop supply sales to Russia next year unless the country stops its attacks on Ukraine. Across the globe, the war is impacting US farmers’ spring planting plans.Free to read: Volunteer soldiers prepare to make their stand on battle-scarred suburban streets.Opinion: It is often assumed that China will be the senior partner in the “no limits” partnership with Russia but Xi’s decision to embrace Putin now looks likes a miscalculation, writes Gideon Rachman. Follow our live blog and updated maps for the latest on the conflict.Coronavirus digest China is battling its biggest Covid surge since the start of the pandemic and has locked down multiple cities including Shenzhen, its technology hub.JPMorgan Chase’s US operation is discontinuing a policy of hiring only vaccinated people and has ended mandatory mask wearing and testing.Chinese stocks in Hong Kong fell the most since the global financial crisis as the country’s Covid-19 surge threatened valuations across every sector.Five more stories in the news1. Chinese metals group wins respite from banks on nickel bet Chinese metals group Tsingshan has reached a deal with its bank counterparties to resolve a bet on nickel that plunged the market into turmoil, paving the way for trading to resume on Wednesday at the London Metal Exchange.2. Hong Kong threatens British campaigner with national security law Benedict Rogers, head of Hong Kong Watch, has been ordered to shut down the website of the organisation he leads or face imprisonment by Hong Kong’s police in a rare extrajudicial use of Beijing’s national security law. 3. Former Wirecard chief executive charged with fraud Markus Braun has been formally charged by Munich public prosecutors with fraud, breach of trust and accounting manipulation after a 21-month criminal investigation into the collapse of the German payments group.4. SoftBank-backed Paytm shares tumble 13% Shares in Paytm fell more than 13 per cent yesterday after India’s central bank barred a division of the payment group from signing up new customers in the latest setback for the company following its blockbuster initial public offering last year.5. ENRC drops lawsuit against FT and journalist Tom Burgis A Kazakh mining group has dropped a libel claim against the Financial Times and one of its journalists over a book detailing the influx of “dirty money” into the west’s financial system. The day aheadJapan balance of trade data Figures for February are set to be released today. In January, Japan’s trade deficit hit an eight-year high. (Reuters) Opec monthly oil market report The group is set to release its monthly data today as UK prime minister Boris Johnson appeals to Saudi Arabia to increase production. Sign up here to receive our Energy Source newsletter. Are you involved with training at your organisation? The FT wants to hear from chief learning officers, heads of leadership development and other executives involved in the development of middle and senior managers. Results of the survey will be published in the FT Executive Education report in May 2022. What else we’re reading What you need to know about South Korea’s new president South Korea’s new conservative president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, a former chief prosecutor, has no foreign policy experience and has never held office. Elected last week by a margin of less than 1 per cent, Yoon will take charge when he assumes office in May. Read up on his policy positions.Economic pressures squeeze Iran as nuclear talks stall Farmers, teachers, pensioners, sugar industry workers, oil sector labourers and others have all taken part in protests over the past 12 months. Each outburst of anger underlines what Tehran is grappling with as it battles to revive its heavily sanctioned economy and keep a lid on simmering discontent.What does it mean to say you are Ukrainian? All of us are “Ukrainians” but when people use that word they don’t mean the same thing — just as when people say they are British they don’t all mean the same thing, writes author Marina Lewycka. But only one kind has been treated as truly Ukrainian by the west.We need a grand bargain on energy Within the current crisis, there is opportunity: namely, the possibility of an US-EU grand bargain on energy security and climate change. It should not be missed, writes Rana Foroohar. Read more from Rana on this topic in her Swamp Notes newsletter. Modi’s wins show how the power of his personal story endures The repeated embrace of autocratic candidates with democratic roots suggests that the well-worn story of democracy’s retreat in India is more complicated than it appears from afar, writes Ruchir Sharma. ArtThe art market is feverish for non-fungibles. So how come they’re all so ugly? Talk to many art insiders and — if only privately — they’ll express horror at the stuff which is, apparently, a hot commodity.

“XYZ 0868 (Chinoiserie)” NFT, 2012-21, by Lucas Samaras © Lucas Samaras/Courtesy of Pace Gallery More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union agreed on Monday new rules to limit access to its 2 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion) worth of public tenders in a move designed to pressure countries such as China to open up their markets.The rules are part of an EU push to develop a more assertive trade policy and insist on fair play after the pain of Brexit, clashes with the Trump presidency and a new realism over China.European Parliament lawmakers and France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, settled on a text on Monday, paving the way for the launch of the International Procurement Instrument (IPI) later this year.French trade minister Franck Riester said Europe was stepping away from naivety and looking after its own businesses and insisting on reciprocity. Under the proposal, the European Commission will determine if third countries allow fair access to their public tenders to EU companies and, if not, seek remedies.Otherwise, the EU would apply penalties to companies from that country, such as adding as much as 100% to the price of the bid during the selection process.The rules would apply for central governments and any local authority with 50,000 people or more and cover tenders of at least 15 million euros for works and concessions, such as road construction, and 5 million euros for goods and services.Exemptions would only be allowed if the only bids were from targeted countries or in cases of overriding public interest, such as for health.In some cases, the EU could even exclude bids from particular countries.The IPI, first proposed in 2012, was blocked for years, but the Commission urged EU governments and the parliament in 2019 to revive talks on a revised text, stressing the challenge posed by China, which EU members now regard more suspiciously.($1 = 0.9112 euros) More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global investors are scooping up stakes in cryptocurrency funds and companies, as they seek exposure to a sector many believe could withstand the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Research firm Fundstrat, in its latest note to clients, said venture capital (VC) buyers invested around $4 billion in the crypto space in the last three weeks of February. VCs poured in another $400 million to start-ups in the sector last week, data showed.The VC investment is consistent with broad weekly inflows. Since the beginning of the year, weekly investments in the industry have been averaging anywhere between $800 million to about $2 billion, Fundstrat data showed.New crypto funds also raised nearly $3 billion over the last two weeks as of Friday, the most so far this year.”The conflict in Ukraine has weaponized our financial and digital economy and really accelerated blockchain adoption,” said Paul Hsu, founder and chief executive officer of Decasonic, a $50-million hybrid fund investing in both digital assets and venture capital. He added that there’s demand of up to $200 million to invest in his fund.”We are seeing a re-allocation to crypto and blockchain away from real estate and bond funds, for instance, because of higher interest rates. I’ve seen this with my funds but unfortunately, because I’m closed-end, I cannot admit more funds nor investors,” Hsu said.Refinitiv Lipper data showed that U.S. investors pulled a net $7.8 billion out of bond funds in the week to March 9.Real estate funds saw net outflows of $707 million in the same period, after posting outflows worth $1.15 billion the previous week. “Crypto native companies are still raising at very high valuations and many funding rounds are still oversubscribed,” said George Melka, chief executive officer at crypto broker SFOX. “In fact, crypto startup valuations are probably the highest I’ve seen.”Bain Capital Ventures, a unit of private equity firm Bain Capital, for instance, announced early last week that it is launching a $560 million fund focused exclusively on crypto-related investment.Crypto assets have outperformed traditional risk-on assets such as stocks during the crisis. Bitcoin rose 12.2% last month, while ether gained 8.8%. Since bottoming on Feb. 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine, the digital currencies have gained 14.5% and 13.5%, respectively, while the S&P 500 rose just 3.2%.CAPITAL INFLOWS, HEDGE FUND RETURNSCrypto investment products and funds saw $163 million in new institutional money in the two weeks to March 4, while inflows into blockchain equities totaled about $15.6 million, according to data from asset manager CoinShares.The inflows of $127 million were the largest seen so far this year. Flows into the crypto sector turned positive in late January, after five straight weeks of outflows, CoinShares data showed.Crypto fund returns have stabilized.The BarclayHedge cryptocurrency traders index was down at 1.5% for the month of February, according to data posted on Monday, with 39 funds reporting or about 43% of the total crypto asset managers it tracks. In January the index fell nearly 13% and in December it fell 10%. “There’s really no panic even with the Ukraine conflict,” said Joe DiPasquale, chief executive officer at BitBull Capital, which manages a crypto fund of funds and two hedge funds.BitBull’s two hedge funds, which employ market-neutral strategies, were up on the year, DiPasquale said, benefiting from the recovery of bitcoin and ether in the month of February.”People are starting funds, encouraged by the appreciation in prices over the last couple of years,” he said. More

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are talking to the London Metal Exchange about the resumption of a fair and orderly market in nickel, the FCA said on Monday.The LME was forced to halt nickel trading and cancel trades after prices doubled on Tuesday, March 8, to more than $100,000 per tonne after China’s Tsingshan Holding Group bought large amounts to reduce its short positions in the metal.”As a regulated investment exchange, the LME is responsible for the maintenance of fair and orderly markets,” the FCA said in response to a Reuters request for comment.”This may include taking steps such as a temporary suspension of trading at times of extreme price volatility.”The LME also deferred physical delivery of maturing contracts and announced it would temporarily stop publishing official and closing nickel prices.But the unprecedented measures have drawn the ire of nickel producers and traders who rely on LME prices of the metal used to make stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries.”The lack of knowledge on the full extent of the crisis-at-hand, nor the timeline for the LME’s resumption of trading, are creating major financial and reputational repercussions,” said Pierre Gratton, president of the The Mining Association of Canada (MAC), in a letter to the LME seen by Reuters on Monday.”The longer that this suspension remains in place, and without a clear, publicly communicated action plan, the more demand destruction for nickel.”The LME had anticipated nickel trading would restart on Friday, but the criteria for restarting had not then been met.MAC members include major mining companies such as BHP Group (NYSE:BHP) and Vale. Canada accounts for 6% of global nickel production. Tsingshan said on Monday it has reached an agreement with lenders under which they will not make margin calls on or close out the producer’s nickel positions on the LME.The FCA regulates the trading activities of the London Metal Exchange (LME) as a UK Recognised Investment Exchange and the Bank of England regulates the clearing activities of LME Clear as a Recognised UK Central Counterparty. More

Motorists were warned on Monday of a near-doubling of the cost of diesel at the pumps from existing record levels in the fallout of the war in Ukraine, as pressure mounted on Rishi Sunak, UK chancellor, to intervene.Experts told MPs on the House of Commons Treasury select committee that fuel prices could continue to soar, with the possibility that diesel hits £3 a litre and also raised the risk that rationing might be required.Sunak will next week address the growing cost-of-living crisis in a spring financial statement, with Tory MPs urging him to cut fuel duty to help offset the cost of motoring.The chancellor has given no indication to Tory MPs that he will yield to their request; he would rather wait until his autumn Budget to see how fuel and energy prices evolve.But Sunak may feel obliged to offer some help to motorists now — including “white van” drivers, for whom fuel costs form a major part of their business outgoings — as Tory pressure mounts.Dr Amrita Sen, director of research at Energy Aspects, told MPs that industrial usage of diesel could keep prices high, saying they could go to “£2.50 — even closer to £3, just depending on how high oil prices get”. She warned rationing may be needed. Diesel prices have hit more than £1.70 a litre in parts of the UK.There are concerns about a supply crunch after prime minister Boris Johnson ordered an end to all Russian oil imports by the end of the year. Britain obtains about 8 per cent of oil from Russia but that rises to 18 per cent for diesel.Nathan Piper, head of oil and gas research at Investec, told MPs the oil price shock was similar to the one in the 1970s, but that it would be accompanied by higher prices for other goods such as food and gas.“We’ve got to be up front, this is going to last for a while,” he told MPs. “Maybe it moderates, but this is going to be a cost-of-living crisis for people for a long time to come.”Sunak is under pressure to use a VAT “windfall” on rapidly rising fuel prices — the tax is levied at 20 per cent on sales — to cut fuel duty by 5p a litre. The chancellor’s aides declined to comment.RAC spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Our calculations show Rishi can afford a 5p-a-litre cut in fuel duty — thanks to all the extra money being made from the VAT element which is slapped on top of the pump price.”Piper said: “If more stringent actions are imposed on Russia and 5mn barrels a day is truly taken out of the market, then oil prices would really have no ceiling.” Asked how high the cost of fuel in the UK could go, he replied: “Not to be flippant but pick a number.”Sunak will also come under pressure later this year to help households facing further huge increases in domestic gas bills, with some predicting the current price cap of £1,277 will rise to about £3,000 in October. More