FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks mixed and oil prices jump as Donald Trump sanctions Russia's biggest producers

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were mixed on Thursday, while oil (BZ=F, CL=F) prices rose after the US sanctioned Russia’s two largest producers to increase pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.

The new measures against Rosneft and Lukoil are the first material US sanctions against Russia introduced since Trump re-entered the White House in January.

All assets belonging to the two firms in the US have been frozen, and US companies and individuals will be barred from doing business with them.

It marks a sharp shift in tone compared to a week ago, when the two sides had talked about a possible meeting in Budapest between Trump and Putin.

The US is also threatening secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Rosneft and Lukoil, which could include banks that facilitate sales of Russian oil in China, India and Turkey.

Brent Crude (BZ=F) jumped more than 3% on Thursday, extending a 2.1% gain yesterday, as the US Treasury cited "Russia's lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine".

Oil (BZ=F, CL=F) also rose amid increased risks of supply disruption.

London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.2% higher in early trade, with shares in oil (BZ=F, CL=F) companies rising, tracking the jump in crude prices. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dipped 0.2% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.3% into the green The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.2% Wall Street is set for a positive start as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green. The pound was flat against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3352

FTSE Index - Delayed Quote•USD

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As of 8:58:11 AM GMT+1. Market Open. Advanced Chart

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16 mins ago

LaToya Harding

Asia and US overnight

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, as traders reacted to the prospect of a further escalation in the US-China trade war. The Nikkei (^N225) sank 1.4% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 0.6% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.2% higher by the end of the session, and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) lost 1% on the day after the Bank of Korea left its policy rate unchanged at 2.5%.

In the FX space, the Japanese yen has weakened against the US dollar for a 5th consecutive session and is now trading at 152.45 per dollar.

Across the pond on Wall Street, The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.7%, or over 300 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost around 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led losses, down around 1%.

Matters haven’t been helped by the ongoing US government shutdown, which is now on day 23. It is now the second-longest shutdown, only ranking behind the most recent 35-day shutdown in 2018-19, and with no sign of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats.

The Polymarket probabilities currently suggest a 75% chance that this will be the longest shutdown in history, and it could be some time before the regular flow of US economic data resumes.

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At close: October 22 at 5:15:59 PM EDT Advanced Chart 40 mins ago

LaToya Harding

Coming up

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and what's happening across the global economy.

To the day ahead now, we have data releases including US existing home sales for September, the Kansas City Fed’s manufacturing index for October, and the Euro Area’s preliminary consumer confidence measure for October. Otherwise from central banks, we’ll hear from the BoE’s Dhingra.

Here's a snapshot of the agenda:

7am: Trading updates: AJ Bell, Antofagasta, Bloomsbury Publishing, Dunelm, Foxtons, Hunting, Inchcape, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Lloyds Banking Group, London Stock Exchange Group, RELX, Renishaw, Rentokil Initial, Schroders, St. James’s Place, Synthomer, Unilever, Wickes 11am: CBI industrial trends 1.30pm: Chicago Fed National Activity Index 2pm: Bank of England’s Swati Dhingra speech at the Central Bank of Ireland ESCB Cluster 2 academic conference 2.30pm: Bank of England’s Jonathan Hall speech on “Balancing financial stability and growth: the BoE Financial Policy Committee’s mandate and the search for a social optimum"

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