Financial News

Financial News:

Stocks mixed…Tesla soars on split…Carlsberg quits Russia

NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street. Gains for some big technology companies are being offset by weakness in energy stocks as crude oil prices fall sharply. The S&P 500 was moving between small gains and losses in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.8%. Crude oil prices sank about 7% as China started to lock down Shanghai, its largest city and its financial center, to conduct mass testing and control a growing outbreak of COVID-19.

NEW YORK (AP) – Shares of Tesla are up sharply after the electric car maker announced its second stock split in less than two years. The company said in a regulatory filing that it plans to make a request at its upcoming annual shareholders meeting to increase its number of authorized shares so that it can split the stock in the form of a dividend. Shares jumped more than 5% at the opening bell.

LONDON (AP) – Russian shares have slumped as its stock market resumed trading of all companies after a monthlong halt following the Ukraine invasion. The benchmark MOEX index slid 2.2% today after the Moscow Exchange reopened for all of its several hundred listed companies, but with restrictions still in place to limit volatility.

BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s energy minister says the Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia will demand “unfriendly” countries pay for natural gas only in rubles from now on. Economists said the move appeared designed to try to support the Russian currency.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Danish brewery group Carlsberg is pulling out of Russia, citing Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Its CEO said the decision means Carlsberg will have no presence in Russia, and business in its vast Russian market will no longer be included in the Danish brewer’s revenue and operating profit. Carlsberg generates around 10% of its sales in Russia, and has about 8,400 staff, who will be laid off.