european natural gas prices wavered as traders monitor talks between nato and russia over ukraine dutch benchmark gas futures are down less than 01 at eur7520 a megawatthour still easing supply challenges and milder than expected weather in western europe have seen prices pull back this week from recent highs the contracts are hovering close to their lowest level in two weeks with talks over ukraine continuing us lawmakers are considering a bill that would impose mandatory sanctions on russia if it invades ukraine the bill would also direct the us government to review a decision not to impose sanctions on the nord stream 2 pipeline between russia and germany gold prices eased but remain close to a oneweek high reached wednesday after us inflation data the precious metal has gained 13 so far this week as investors look to it as a hedge against inflation and as prices have been supported by a falling dollar huge us investments at risk in kazakhstan unrest for years kazakhstans vast natural riches and relative political stability have made the country a ripe target for us investments the current wave of protests which has led to dozens of deaths is now making those investments a riskier proposition since 2005 the value of us investment in the kazakh economy has surpassed 45 billion according to kazakh authorities some 600 us companies operate there including chevron corp exxon mobil corp dow inc and dupont inc tesco plc said thursday that it has had strongerthanexpected sales to date after a strong third quarter of fiscal 2022 and robust sales during christmas and that it now expects to post a retail operating profit for the full fiscal year slightly above its previous topend guidance the uks biggest grocer by market share said likeforlike retail sales rose 26 on year in the 19 weeks ended saturday rising 24 in the third quarter and 32 in the christmas period the companys retail operating profit guidance is in the range of 25 billion to 26 billion pounds 356 billion343 billion geberit ag said thursday that 2021 sales grew strongly overcoming supplychain challenges as the company benefited from a homeimprovement trend driven by the coronavirus pandemic net sales rose 16 on year to 346 billion swiss francs 378 billion the swiss sanitarygoods maker said in a trading statement ahead of full 2021 reporting in march pepco group bv said thursday that revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 rose despite pandemicdriven operating restrictions across many territories the owner of brands such as poundland in the uk and dealz in continental europe said revenue during the quarter ended in december rose 12 on a constantcurrency basis to 135 billion euros 154 billion on a likeforlike basis sales rose 07 persimmon plc said thursday that revenue rose 84 in 2021 though its current forwardsales position for the year fell slightly onyear for the year ended dec 31 the uk home builder said revenue was 361 billion pounds 495 billion compared with gbp333 billion a year earlier the company said it has seen good levels of demand throughout the second half of the year underpinning positive pricing conditions asos plc said thursday that its guidance for the year remains unchanged despite uncertainty related to the omicron coronavirus variant and that it intends to move to london stock exchanges main market the online fashion retailer said revenue for the first four months of fiscal 2022 ended dec 31 rose in line with its guidance by 5 to 139 billion pounds 190 billion marks  spencer group plc said thursday that its performance over the christmas period was strong and backed its guidance for the year the uk retailer said that group sales for the 13 weeks ended jan 1 rose 19 to 327 billion pounds 448 billion europes growing dependence on russian gas and oil is limiting the continents room to maneuver in the mounting usrussia crisis over security in the region and making it highly vulnerable in the event of an escalation officials from the us russia and europe meet thursday in vienna at the organization for security and cooperation in europe to discuss the tensions earlier this week the us and russia failed to narrow differences over moscows deployment of more than 100000 troops along the border with ukraine a major thoroughfare for gas consumed in western europe and moscows demands for changes to europes security architecture russia has denied preparing to invade its western neighbor in usrussia talks over ukraine kyiv gets a voice viennaukraine has been the focus of talks this week between russia and usled western allies but wasnt present at negotiations in geneva or brussels on thursday in vienna kyiv gets a seat at the table whether russia will engage remains an open question all the parties will gather at a regular meeting of the organization for security and cooperation in europe a 57country grouping that helped to foster peace during the cold war hgcapital in london is targeting roughly 1475 billion for two new buyout funds less than two years after it secured almost 10 billion for the strategies the firm aims to collect at least 85 billion for hg saturn 3 lp its largecompany buyout fund and eur55 billion equivalent to 625 billion for hg genesis 10 lp which focuses on midsize businesses according to public documents prepared for the connecticut retirement plans and trust funds both strategies target investments in software and services businesses mainly in northern europe tight us labor market has kept lid on layoffs a tight us labor market has kept applications for unemployment benefits close to record lows for the past two months while workers calling in sick because of the omicron variant of covid19 have increased pressure on employers economists surveyed by the wall street journal estimate that initial jobless claims a proxy for layoffs fell slightly to 200000 for the week ended jan 8 from 207000 the prior week initial claims and their fourweek moving averagewhich smooths out volatility in the weekly figureshave in recent weeks continued to hover near their lowest levels since 1969 what to watch in bank earnings from interest rates to omicrons impact as the pandemic drags on what does the new normal for banks look like investors are about to get some answers big us banks unveil fourthquarter results starting later this week with jpmorgan chase  co wells fargo  co and citigroup inc slated to report friday feds bullard four interest rate rises in 2022 now appear likely federal reserve bank of st louis president james bullard said the us central bank will need to move more aggressively on rate rises this year as it seeks to stem an inflation surge amid a job market that could see the unemployment rate fall below 3 by the end of the year we want to bring inflation under control in a way that does not disrupt the real economy but we are also firm in our desire to get inflation to return to 2 over the medium term mr bullard said in a wall street journal interview wednesday shortages and bottlenecks weighed on personalcomputer shipments in the fourth quarter but the pandemicinduced revival of the pc market is expected to continue according to industry data international data corp and canalys said pc shipments in the fourth quarter rose about 1 while gartner inc said worldwide pc shipments declined 5 in the december quarter which it said was the first yearoveryear decline after six straight quarters of growth the us inflation report for december showed prices accelerating at the fastest pace in almost 40 years but history isnt much of a guide in this case economists say because todays inflation is caused primarily by factors related to the covid19 pandemic and should fade in the coming months the past few months of price increases come from both a surge in consumer demand following the biden administrations economic stimulus programs and supply shortages caused by a logjam at factories and us ports moderna expects to report vaccine data for young children in march moderna inc on wednesday said it expects to report data from its covid19 vaccine trial in children ages 2 to 5 in march if the data are supportive and subject to regulatory consultation moderna may proceed with regulatory filings for the vaccine for young children thereafter the us pharmaceutical and biotechnology company said novak djokovic set to play fellow serb in australian open as visa decision looms sydneynovak djokovic is slated to play fellow serb miomir kecmanović in next weeks opening round of the australian open although the defending champions participation remains in doubt as the government considers canceling his visa for a second time