Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks on Wednesday, reported Russian state media, and agreed to hold talks between experts on the potential for rouble payments for Russian gas payments. The call comes ahead of a 31 March deadline set by Putin for Gazprom and the Russian central bank to arrange for rouble payments for gas from "unfriendly countries", and may ease some fears of imminent disruption of gas flows into Europe.
Market Reaction
The Bloomberg Energy Index has been on the back foot in recent trade, perhaps as European gas shortage fears ease. The index has pulled back from around 101.50 to around 100.50 in a matter of minutes.
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Gold keeps the bid bias unchanged near $2,700
Persistent safe haven demand continues to prop up the march north in Gold prices so far on Friday, hitting new two-week tops past the key $2,700 mark per troy ounce despite extra strength in the Greenback and mixed US yields.
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Eurozone PMI sounds the alarm about growth once more
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