the uae said monday that it intercepted two missiles over its capital which it said were launched by iranbacked houthi militants last week the militants claimed a drone attack that targeted a stateowned oil facility the threat of conflict between ukraine and russia also remains high oil supplies are already tight with opec nations struggling to meet strong demand traders are worried that a hit to oil supplies in the middle east or reduced russian gas supplies to europe could tighten markets even further european natural gas rose over 5 as the tensions in ukraine showed no sign of abating the new york times reported that the us was considering deploying troops to the baltic states and elsewhere in eastern europe should tensions between russia and the ukraine escalate the initial uncertainty around its impact on gas flows would likely lead the market to once again add a significant risk premium to european gas prices samantha dart at goldman sachs said copper prices weakened as global risk assets tumbled while a stronger dollar also weighed on the red metal chinas lunar new year holiday begins next week which could also dampen demand for metals in the short term as economic activity slows anz said londontrian fund management lp the activist hedge fund run by nelson peltz has acquired a stake in unilever plc according to people familiar with the matter adding pressure to the packaged food and consumer goods giant in the wake of its failed 68billion bid for glaxosmithkline plcs consumerhealth business the size of the stake couldnt be learned trian started buying unilever shares well before its bids for the gsk unit surfaced earlier this month one of the people said eurozone business activity growth slowed for a second consecutive month in january as the spread of the omicron variant took an increasing toll on the regions economy ihs markit says the eurozone composite pmi fell to 524 in january from 533 in december according to the flash estimate the latest reading indicates the slowest rate of output growth since the recovery from lockdowns started in march 2021 royal philips nv said monday that sales and net profit for the last quarter of the year fell as it continued to experience challenges related to the supply chain and covid19 the dutch healthtechnology company said group sales for the fourth quarter of 2021 were 49 billion euros 556 billion compared with eur600 billion a year earlier accell group nv said monday that it has agreed on a 156 billion euro 177 billion takeover by a consortium led by kohlberg kravis roberts  co lp under the deal accepting shareholders of the netherlandsbased bicycle company will get eur58 for each share held a 26 premium to the companys closing price on friday italy to decide on its leadershipand draghis future romeitaly faces a political puzzle this week it must fill its two most important leadership positions but it has only one mario draghi mr draghi is both the widely respected prime minister of italys bipartisan government and the most credible contender to become head of state or president of the republic berlingermanys dependence on russian gas has left europe short of options to sanction moscow if it invades ukraineand itself vulnerable should russia stop gas exports to the west a twodecadeold decision to phase out nuclear power and more recent moves to cut reliance on coal in an effort to bring down co2 emissions mean germany is now more reliant on russian gas than most of its neighbors not just for heating but also for power generation nn ip will continue to shun gas nuclear projects despite green endorsement by eu the european unions proposal to temporarily classify investments in some naturalgas and nuclear projects as sustainable will not change nn investment partners decision to shun fossil fuels from its green portfolios the draft recommendation from the european commission the eus executive arm is part of an eu classification scheme to help financial markets decide what counts as a sustainable investment known as green taxonomy uae intercepts two ballistic missiles over capital as gulf tensions escalate dubaithe united arab emirates said it intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by the houthi rebels in the most recent attack targeting its capital of abu dhabi that threatens to widen yemens yearslong civil war across the region the uae said early monday that the attack resulted in no casualties but scattered shards of missiles across abu dhabi videos posted to social media monday before dawn showed bright lights in the sky above the city and residents reported hearing explosions state department tells families of us diplomats in ukraine to leave the state department instructed the families of us diplomats in ukraine to leave the country and authorized some embassy staff members to also depart while the biden administration considers sending several thousand troops to europe amid a russian military buildup the state department decision announced sunday comes as us officials have warned that an attack could come at any time the uk said it has exposed a plot by russia to install a friendly government in ukraine supporting an earlier us assessment suggesting that the kremlin is laying plans to oust its neighbors leadership the allegations announced saturday by the british foreign office come in the midst of warnings that russia could invade ukraine with the around 100000 troops it has gathered near the border f16 sale could mend us turkey ties but tension with russia intrudes the biden administration is weighing a turkish proposal to buy a fleet of f16 jet fighters that officials in ankara say would mend ruptured security links between the countries but the sale faces opposition from members of congress critical of turkeys growing ties to russia senior turkish officials say the deal could be a lifeline for their relationship with the us which has suffered for years over turkeys purchases of russian arms clashing interests in the war in syria and us criticism of ankaras humanrights record and in both countries analysts say blocking the sale could push ankara closer to russia usbacked forces struggle to contain islamic state in battle over syrian prison syrian fighters backed by american airstrikes struggled to retake control of a prison attacked by islamic state in northeastern syria on sunday as the militant groups attempt to replenish its ranks with freed prisoners sparked the areas worst sustained fighting in years the prison attack which began last week was one of the most complex and brazen islamic state operations in syria and iraq in the past three years it involved sleeper cells suicide bombers and an insurrection inside the prison said the syrian democratic forces the usbacked kurdishled militia that controls a section of northeastern syria that is autonomous from the regime in damascus the federal reserve is entering an unfamiliar environment at the start of 2022 for the first time in decades officials are preparing to raise interest rates when inflation is uncomfortably high rather than very low the last time the fed lifted rates from near zero at the end of 2015 inflation was running below its 2 target and the unemployment ratea measure of labor slackwas declining gently fed steps up deliberations on shrinking its 9 trillion asset portfolio federal reserve officials are set to resume discussions this week over how fast they will shrink their nearly 9 trillion bond portfolio when the time comes which would serve as a tool for tightening monetary policy as they try to curb high inflation officials are on track at their meeting tuesday and wednesday to approve a final tranche of bond purchases allowing them to end the stimulus program by marchwhen they are likely to raise interest rates to cool the economy according to their recent public comments shifts within the bond market are removing a key pillar of support for wall streets more speculative bets dragging down major stock indexes as investors flee everything from tech stocks to cryptocurrencies spooked in large part by rising bond yields investors continued to dump stocks last week extending earlyyear losses that have taken many off guard with their speed and severity once again tech shares were at the forefront selling also broadened to include sectors such as banking and energy sending the sp 500 to its worst stretch of declines since the onset of the covid19 pandemic state department tells families of us diplomats in ukraine to leave the state department instructed the families of us diplomats in ukraine to leave the country and authorized some embassy staff members to also depart while the biden administration considers sending several thousand troops to europe amid a russian military buildup the state department decision announced sunday comes as us officials have warned that an attack could come at any time write to us at newslettersdowjonescom