Business blog

US and European stocks fell in volatile trading on Monday as investors were spooked by fears of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine.

The FTSE All World index slid 1 per cent as global equities lurched lower. The declines were most significant in Europe, where the benchmark Stoxx 600 index fell 1.8 per cent as the geopolitical crisis intensified.

Germany’s Xetra Dax fell 2 per cent while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 2.3 per cent. The pain was also felt in the US, with the benchmark S&P 500 closing 0.4 per cent lower.

Monday’s market moves came after Jake

Olaf Scholz, German chancellor, is preparing to launch a fresh attempt to deter Vladimir Putin from further invading Ukraine, as US officials warned Russia was on the brink of launching a major attack on its western neighbour.

His preparations came as western nations continued to withdraw diplomatic and military personnel from Ukraine and some airlines cancelled flights to the country. Some European countries are preparing to receive a flood of refugees in the event of military action.

Scholz will travel to Kyiv on Monday before arriving in Moscow on Tuesday. The German leader is expected to urge Putin to de-escalate

Russian forces remain on the brink of invading Ukraine, US officials warned on Saturday, after Joe Biden failed to make a breakthrough during an hour-long phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The US president made a last-ditch attempt to persuade Putin not to attack Ukraine, warning that western countries would impose “severe” economic sanctions if he does.

But the White House said that Biden’s efforts had not changed the Kremlin’s position and an imminent attack remained a “distinct possibility”. US officials warned on Friday that Russia could launch a full-scale invasion as early as next week.

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Not long after stepping down as creative director of womenswear at Calvin Klein, the Brazilian-born Francisco Costa found himself, for the first time, in the Amazon. After 13 years at the brand and a somewhat abrupt departure, he realised he needed to “get away and detach from everything”.

Up to that point, Costa’s working life had been all about fashion. Having arrived in New York from Guarani, a small town near Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, he’d taken night classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and landed a position assisting Oscar de la Renta. Ten years later he was

Hedge funds and other activist investors would have to disclose significant investments in US public companies within five days, halving the time they currently have to amass a secret stake, under new rules proposed on Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The change would force funds to reveal a stake of 5 per cent or more, and to amend that disclosure more quickly if the holding changes materially. The move is part of a larger effort to shine a light on what big private investors are doing and will make it harder for activists to profit from secret stakes.

Economic news: Huw Pill, the Bank of England’s chief economist, delivers a speech on the UK’s monetary policy outlook at the annual conference of the Society of Professional Economists, while Sweden’s Riksbank holds its monetary policy meeting in Stockholm. A range of companies publish results on Wednesday.

L’Oréal: The French consumer group reported robust third-quarter earnings in October. Quarterly like-for-like sales rose 13 per cent from the previous year to nearly €8bn, bringing the nine-month figure to €23.2bn, with growth accelerating to 14.9 per cent from the same quarter in 2019. L’Oréal releases its full-year results.

GlaxoSmithKline: