Top-of-mind news headlines as we start the week:
— The US expanded financial sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, cutting off transactions with Russia’s central bank; Russia hiked key interest rate to 20% (from 9%) and shut its stock exchange.
— Crude oil prices (West Texas Intermediate) rebounded to $95 per barrel on Ukrainian conflict; up from $75 at the start of 2022.
— China’s economic growth is forecast to slow to around 5% for 2022, per the World Bank, on weaker domestic demand and global supply shortages.
— The CDC loosened Covid-19 masking guidelines for some 70% of US population, as the surge in the variant Omicron subsides.
— The deep ocean is being increasingly looked at as the next economic frontier, including for mining precious metals and working with newly discovered deep-sea organisms that could play a role in carbon sequestration.
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