Russia: As the current head of the UN Security Council, Russia plans to hold a meeting on Ukraine at the UN. Russian media has reported the withdrawal of some troops on Ukraine’s eastern border following combat training events, but Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, warned that he had so far not seen “any sign of de-escalation”.
Ukraine: The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss will travel to Ukraine on Thursday. Earlier this week, Truss said a Russian attack on Ukraine could be imminent, and urged Putin to “step back from the brink”.
Economic news: Italy publishes December trade balance figures and the European Central Bank releases its monthly economic bulletin.
Commerzbank: Germany’s second largest bank will publish full-year results. For the third quarter, Commerzbank’s operating profit almost tripled to €472mn from a year earlier, surpassing analysts’ estimates by 30 per cent.
Reckitt Benckiser: The Slough-based consumer goods group also publishes its full year results. In November, Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturer of Strepsils, Mucinex and Nurofen alongside disinfectants Dettol and Lysol, said its full-year sales would be higher than expected after increased social mixing caused a rise in colds and flu.
Results: Air France-KLM, Airbus, AutoStore, Kering, Moneysupermarket.com, Nestlé and Repsol will also publish results.
Markets: Futures for the Euro Stoxx 50 and the FTSE 100 were down 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively, amid tensions in Ukraine heightened by a series of conflicting reports from the US and Russia about troop movements and activity on the country’s borders. Most Asian markets also fell on Thursday, with Japan’s Topix losing as much as 1.3 per cent.
