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  • Today's business and finance round up 21st July 2022

Today's business and finance round up 21st July 2022

Lacklustre stock market debut for GSK spinoff

21st July 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning And then there were two. Yesterday Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak emerged as the final candidates in the race to become the next prime minister after Penny Mordaunt was eliminated. The decision now lies with 160,000 Conservative party members who will vote between early August and 2 September, with the winner announced on 5 September.On the same day outgoing PM Boris Johnson used his last moment at the despatch box in the House of Commons to suggest he could be back. Hasta la vista, baby was his typically Johnsonian parting shot.

Today's stories

  • Lacklustre stock market debut for GSK spinoff 

  • EU energy crisis worsens

PHARMALacklustre stock market debut for GSK spinoff

Other stories to keep you in the loop

  • UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high of 9.4% and ‘could hit 12% in October’

  • House prices £32,000 higher than a year ago

  • Royal Mail ponders break up as it loses £1m a day

  • Strike by fuel workers at Heathrow suspended ahead of summer holiday rush

  • Tesla reports second quarter revenue slump after a struggle to meet demands

ENERGYEU energy crisis worsens

What happened?This week, Russia’s Gazprom (the biggest natural-gas company by sales) halted exports to three major European customers citing 'force majeure' — a stoppage for extraordinary circumstances. It's the latest move in an economic tit-for-tat between the West and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.Russia supplies nearly half of the EU’s natural gasOver the past month, Gazprom’s cut its export capacity to 40%. The Nord Stream pipeline (the main connection between Germany and Russia) closed last week for an annual maintenance check.But Europeans worry that the force majeure signals Russia won't reopen its taps by today’s deadline. And Europe’s gas prices are already up 8 times from a year ago.Europe’s crisis could be a global disasterThis year, Europe has surpassed Asia as the top importer of US oil for the first time since 2016 (because it’s getting less gas from Russia). But US production isn’t growing fast enough to meet the needs of both continents and its own.Eventually, the energy crisis could cost European taxpayers billions through higher energy bills and higher taxes. Globally, a tighter gas market could trigger more inflation, hurt economic output and fuel a recession.

Stat of the day

Amazon is suing 10,000 people for allegedly publishing fake reviews around the world

Interesting links from around the web

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