There are indications that the EU’s unity in the face of Russian gas blackmail is beginning to wear off. Several major European energy companies – including Germany’s Uniper, Italy’s ENI and Austria’s rival OMW – are said to be preparing to pay for Kremlin gas in Russian bank accounts. This is despite the fact that Brussels is urging companies not to give in to Putin’s demands, saying that doing so would violate sanctions. However, there is still uncertainty about a mechanism that allows companies to open two accounts with Gazprombank, leaving the Russian lender to convert payments into rubles. The companies seem to be taking advantage of this solution and the bloc has issued guidelines that seem to encourage it.

5 things to start your day with

  1. Housing buyers prepare for the sharpest rate hike since the 1990s As the market changes, an entire generation of borrowers will be exposed to an unprecedented rate hike.
  2. Fraud Office raids Liberty Steel’s offices amid criminal investigation French police have previously raided the offices of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance in Paris in a separate investigation
  3. Netflix will be judged by Ofcom for controversial Nadine Dorries broadcasts to present plans for streaming industry oversight and Channel 4 privatization briefing
  4. Elon Musk loses legal offer to get rid of “Twitter Sitter” Doubts arise about the deal as the head of Tesla seems to dispute the agreement not to criticize the executives of the social media platform
  5. Energy companies urged to keep burning coal as ministers struggle to keep lights on Coal companies are set to be extended beyond the planned September shutdown

What happened overnight

Asian markets showed some necessary gains on Thursday after a difficult week. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.83% at 3:30 a.m. GMT, with the Hang Seng 1.62%.

He is coming today

Corporate: Sainsbury’s, Whitbread (full year results). Barclays, Indivior, Standard Chartered (intermediate); ConvaTec, Evraz, Glencore, Howden Joinery Group, Inchcape, Lancashire Holdings, St James’s Place, Smith & Nephew, Schroders, Spectris, Synthomer, Unilever, Weir Group (trading update) Economics: GDP (US), Business climate (EU), consumer confidence (EU), inflation (Germany), unemployment claims (US), personal consumer spending (US)