Nickel soars to record above $100,000 per tonne

London, March 8 (AFP/APP): The price of nickel skyrocketed to a record high on Tuesday over concerns about Russian production as the Ukraine conflict has rocked commodity markets. The metal, which is used to make stainless steel and batteries for electric vehicles, briefly traded at […]

European stocks extend slump at open

London, March 7 (AFP/APP): European stock markets plunged at the open Monday as investors pumped their money into assets deemed safer such as gold. Frankfurt dived 3.6 percent and Paris shed 3.0 percent. Outside the eurozone, London lost 0.8 percent, with losses capped by strong […]

Italy freezes Russian oligarch assets worth 140 mn euros

Rome, March 5 (AFP/APP):The value of frozen assets including luxury yachts and property held by Russian oligarchs in Italy amounted to around 140 million euros, the Italian government said on Saturday. The most expensive asset was the “Lady M Yacht” belonging to Alexei Mordashov, a […]

Russia’s Aeroflot says halting all flights abroad from March 8

Moscow, March 5 (AFP/APP): Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot said Saturday that it was suspending all its international flights beginning March 8, as Moscow faces waves of Western sanctions over its military incursion in Ukraine. An Aeroflot statement on the “temporary suspension of all international flights […]

Tesla awaits green light to start production at German plant

  Berlin, March 4 (AFP/APP): After a series of administrative delays, US electric car pioneer Tesla is on the verge of receiving the go-ahead from German authorities on Friday to begin production at its “giga-factory” outside Berlin.   Officials in the eastern state of Brandenburg, […]

Sri Lanka hikes rates as economy risks collapse

Colombo, March 4 (AFP/APP):Sri Lanka’s central bank hiked interest rates by one percentage point on Friday and urged the government to increase taxes as the country skirts economic collapse. The troubled South Asian island nation is in the grip of a severe foreign exchange crisis […]

Ikea suspends Russia, Belarus operations, affecting 15,000 staff

Stockholm, March 3 (AFP/APP): Swedish furniture giant Ikea said Thursday it would suspend its activities in Russia and Belarus, affecting nearly 15,000 employees, 17 stores and three production sites, in response to the war in Ukraine. “The war has had a huge human impact already. […]

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund says Russia assets down 90%

Oslo, March 3 (AFP/APP):Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, on Thursday estimated that its Russian assets had been reduced to a tenth of their value, over the war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Russia. At the end of 2021, the fund held some […]