VERSAILLES, France, March 10 (Reuters) – European Union leaders on Thursday condemned the “untold suffering” Russia was inflicting on Ukraine, but at a summit in France they refused a call from Kiev to early membership in the bloc and differed on the scope of sanctions against Moscow.

The Russian invasion – the biggest assault on a European state since World War II – has upended the European security order and prompted EU capitals to rethink what the bloc should represent, its economic policies, defense and energetic.

The EU was quick to impose sweeping sanctions and offer political and humanitarian support to Ukraine, as well as arms supplies, in the days following Russia’s February 24 attack.

However, cracks have appeared in the bloc’s united front, from its reaction to Kiev’s demand for fast-track membership of the wealthy club to how quickly it can wean itself off Russian fossil fuels and how best to shape a economic response.

“No one joined the European Union overnight,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said as talks between the 27 national leaders ended in the wee hours of Friday.

Leaders’ chairman Charles Michel said in a show of sympathy and moral support: “Ukraine belongs to the European family.”

But others have made it clear that Ukraine will not be allowed to join in a rush, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for and which enjoys the support of Ukraine’s neighbors on the EU’s eastern flank.

“There is no fast-track process,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a prominent opponent of EU enlargement, while adding that the bloc would continue to deepen its ties with Kyiv.

The door to membership could not be closed either, said French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Can we open an accession procedure with a country at war? I don’t think so. Can we close the door and say: ‘never’? That would be unfair. Can we forget the balance points in this region? ? Let’s be careful.”

Joining the EU is a process that usually takes years and requires meeting strict criteria ranging from economic stability to the eradication of corruption to liberal respect for human rights.

RUSSIAN OIL AND GAS

The invasion of Russia, which Moscow calls a special military operation, shattered the post-war European security order that emerged from the ashes of World War II and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. .

More than 2 million people have fled the country, thousands of civilians have been killed and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops have besieged several Ukrainian towns. Read more

“It’s a war crime,” Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, told leaders.

Some EU leaders have pushed for tougher sanctions that would hit Russia’s oil and gas industries, even if it meant repercussions for European nations dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, whose country shares a border with Russia, said cutting off Russian oil and gas would be the most effective way to bring Putin to the negotiating table.

“We should go much further and much faster,” Karins said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not commented on whether the bloc should ban imports of Russian oil, something Berlin has ruled out so far. Russia supplies about a third of Germany’s gas and crude needs.

But the EU should stop using Russian fossil fuels by 2027, von der Leyen said, adding that it would come up with a roadmap for that in mid-May.

Leaders resume at 09:00 GMT on Friday to discuss policy on tackling war-related defense and energy spending in Ukraine. Divisions have emerged over the possibility of a new joint EU debt issuance, advocated by countries such as France and Italy but opposed by Germany, the Netherlands and others. Read more

“The war in Ukraine is an immense trauma… But it is also most certainly something that will lead us to completely redefine the structure of Europe,” Macron said.

Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Michel Rose, Juliette Jabkhiro, Richard Lough, Philip Blenkinsop, Marine Strauss, Andreas Rinke, Sabine Siebold and Benoit van Overstraeten; Written by Gabriela Baczynska and Richard Lough; Editing by Gareth Jones and Rosalba O’Brien

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LVIV/KIEV, Ukraine, March 5 (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Saturday of failing to provide safe passage for civilians fleeing two towns besieged and shelled by Russian forces, on the 10th day of a war which has fueled Europe’s greatest humanitarian disaster in decades.

The war, which began with the invasion of Russia on February 24, sent nearly 1.5 million refugees fleeing west into the European Union and prompted unprecedented international sanctions against Moscow and warnings of a global recession.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its units had opened humanitarian corridors near the towns of Mariupol and Volnovakha, which were surrounded by its troops.

But in Mariupol, the city council said Russia was not respecting the ceasefire and asked residents to return to shelters and await further information on evacuation.

The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian “nationalists” of preventing civilians from leaving, the RIA news agency reported.

The southeastern port has come under heavy shelling, a sign of its strategic value to Moscow due to its position between eastern Ukraine, held by Russian-backed separatists, and the Crimean peninsula from the sea Black, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

“Last night the shelling was harder and closer together,” said a member of staff from Médecins sans frontières/Médecins sans frontières (MSF), according to the aid agency. There was still no electricity, water, heating or cell phone, and food was scarce.

The Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha.

Only 17 people were evacuated from Mariupol on Saturday and no one left Volnovakha, Tass said citing pro-Russian separatists.

HUMANITARIAN DISASTER

Despite limited ceasefire plans, the Russian Defense Ministry said a broad offensive would continue in Ukraine, where it denies targeting civilians or invading, calling its actions a “special military operation “.

Russian forces were carrying out strikes on military infrastructure and forces in separatist-held Donetsk were tightening the encirclement of Mariupol, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster across the country. The number of refugees could reach 1.5 million by the end of the weekend from the current 1.3 million, the head of the UN refugee agency said on Saturday.

Women and small children walked through the Medyka checkpoint in southeastern Poland in freezing conditions. A man crossing in the other direction shouted to the crowd that the men must return to Ukraine and fight.

A woman, struggling to carry half a dozen bags, cried when snacks she had prepared for her and her young son, who was holding a green dinosaur toy, fell to the ground. She gave the boy a bag to carry as they walked slowly.

President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade has been condemned around the world. Ukrainian authorities have reported thousands of dead and injured civilians.

Moscow says its goal is to disarm its neighbour, counter what it sees as NATO aggression and capture leaders it calls neo-Nazis. On Saturday, he accused the West of acting like a bandit and threatened to retaliate without giving details.

“As you understand, there must be a corresponding response to economic banditry,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Read more

The conflict has also rattled international diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program, one of the few areas where Russia and the United States have worked together to curb what the West suspects is an Iranian weapons development plan. nuclear.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that new Western sanctions imposed on his country had become a stumbling block to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters the Russian position was not helpful.

“PLEASE CLOSE THE SKY”

Ukraine says Russian forces have focused their efforts on encircling Kyiv and Kharkiv, the second-largest city, while aiming to establish a land bridge to Crimea.

Kiev, in the path of a Russian armored column that had been stuck for days outside the Ukrainian capital, came under attack again, with explosions audible from the city center.

British intelligence said on Saturday that the overall pace of Russian airstrikes and artillery over the past 24 hours had been lower than in previous days, although Russian forces had apparently advanced in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was expected to press Washington for more help during a video call with the US Senate at 9:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Saturday.

At a meeting on Friday, NATO allies rejected Ukraine’s call for no-fly zones, saying they were increasing support but that intervening directly could worsen the situation.

“Please close the sky…because people are dying,” said Solomiya Zdryko, 18, who fled Lviv, western Ukraine. Read more

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Poland on Saturday and was due to discuss security and humanitarian assistance with Polish officials. Poland took in the vast majority of people fleeing Ukraine. Read more

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said 66,224 Ukrainian men had returned from abroad to join the fight against the Russian invasion. “Ukrainians, we are invincible,” he said in an online post.

The Ukrainian military said the armed forces are “fighting hard to liberate Ukrainian cities from Russian occupiers”, counterattacking in some areas and disrupting communications.

“The units of the invaders are demoralized, soldiers and officers of the occupation army continue to surrender, to flee, leaving weapons and equipment on Ukrainian soil,” he said, adding that at least 39 Russian planes and 40 helicopters had been destroyed.

Russia said it destroyed 82 Ukrainian aircraft, 708 armored vehicles, 74 multiple rocket launchers and 56 drones.

Reuters has not been able to independently verify these accounts on either side.

Russian forces have made their biggest advances in the south, where they this week captured their first major Ukrainian city, Kherson.

On Saturday, a crowd marched through the streets of the city of 250,000, waving Ukrainian flags and shouting “Kherson is Ukrainian!” as Russian troops stood by.

Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Aleksandar Vasovic in Ukraine, Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty, Matthias Williams in Medyka, Guy Faulconbridge and William Schomberg in London, John Irish in Paris, François Murphy in Vienna, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and other offices from Reuters by Kim Coghill and Philippa Fletcher Editing by William Mallard, Frances Kerry and Gareth Jones

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

File photo of the skyline of the banking district in Frankfurt, September 18, 2014. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday it was imposing temporary restrictions on foreigners seeking to exit Russian assets, curbing an accelerating investor exodus due to crippling Western sanctions imposed during the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian assets plummeted on Tuesday, with London-listed isshares MSCI Russia ETF (CSRU.L) shares plunging 50% to a new all-time high and Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank falling 21% as investors were rushing out.

Major fund managers, including hedge fund Man Group (EMG.L) and UK asset manager abrdn (ABDN.L), trimmed their positions in Russia even as the ruble slumped to a record high and that transactions on its bonds froze.

“There is definitely a drive among asset managers and benchmark providers to shed exposure to Russia in their portfolios and indices,” said Kaspar Hense, senior portfolio manager at Bluebay Asset Management. in London.

“The big question is where are the buyers coming from? »

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBIV.VI) is also considering leaving Russia, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that would make it the first European bank to do so since the invasion of Ukraine. by the country. Read more

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that the country would temporarily block foreign investors from selling Russian assets to ensure they make a considered decision, but did not give details. Read more

Moscow’s decision to impose capital controls means that billions of dollars in securities held by foreigners in Russia are at risk of being trapped.

British asset manager Liontrust suspended trading in its Russian fund, while prices of some of the most popular Russian-focused exchange-traded funds traded at a discount to their net asset value (CSRU.L) .

Rating agency Fitch has identified 11 Russia-focused funds that have been suspended, with total assets under management of 4.4 billion euros ($4.92 billion) as of the end of January, said a spokesperson by e-mail. Read more

WILL NOT INVEST

In a matter of weeks, Russia has gone from a lucrative bet on soaring oil prices to an uninvestable market with a central bank crippled by sanctions, major banks excluded from the international payments system and capital controls stifling flows. monetary.

Visa Inc (VN) and Mastercard Inc have blocked several Russian financial institutions from their networks and German market regulator BaFin said it is closely monitoring the European branch of Russian bank VTB (VTBR.MM), which does not accept more new customers.

Shares of some European banks remained under pressure after sharp declines on Monday due to lender exposure to Russia and the European banking sector (.SX7P) was down 3% on Tuesday.

Asset manager abrdn has about two billion pounds of client money invested in Russia and Belarus and has trimmed positions, chief executive Stephen Bird said. Read more

“We won’t be investing in Russia and Belarus for the foreseeable future,” Bird said.

Man Group has reduced its investments in Russia in recent weeks and now has “negligible” exposure to Russia and Ukraine in its portfolio, its chief financial officer Antoine Forterre told Reuters on Tuesday. Read more

Shares of Raiffeisen (RBIV.VI) were down 11.3% early in the afternoon, after falling 14% on Monday. Shares of Italy’s UniCredit (CRDI.MI) fell 2.5%, following Monday’s 9.5% plunge.

The European Central Bank has placed banks with close ties to Russia, such as Raiffeisen and the European branch of VTB, under close scrutiny following sweeping financial sanctions imposed by the West that have already pushed a Russian lender over the edge. two sources told Reuters. Read more

NO QUICK RESOLUTION

Tuesday’s stock price swings and investor comments came as Russia faced growing isolation over its invasion of Ukraine, with resistance on the ground denying President Vladimir Putin decisive early gains despite heavy shelling and a huge military convoy outside Kiev. Read more

In recent days, the United States, Britain, Europe and Canada have announced a series of new sanctions, including blocking the access of certain Russian lenders to the international payment system SWIFT. Read more

In response, the London Stock Exchange announced on Tuesday that it would stop trading two global certificates of deposit (GDRs) for VTB Bank after the UK financial regulator suspended them in response to the sanctions. Read more

The German stock operator expanded the securities it would no longer trade to bonds issued by Russia. Read more

India’s major lender will not process any transactions involving Russian entities subject to international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, according to a letter seen by Reuters and people familiar with the matter. Read more

Amid the wild swings in bank stocks, bankers have sought to reassure investors and the public, saying they are well capitalized and their footprint in Russia is relatively small.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) chief executive Christian Sewing told the Bild newspaper that it would be wrong to assume a quick resolution to the crisis in Ukraine following the exclusion of Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system.

“That would be a bad expectation,” Sewing said.

Additional reporting by Frank Siebelt, Huw Jones and Madeline Chambers; Written by Tom Sims and Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Edmund Blair, Carmel Crimmins and Susan Fenton

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European Union flags are seen outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a law requiring big companies operating in the EU to verify that their suppliers around the world meet environmental standards and do not use slaves or child labor .

The Sustainability Due Diligence Act will also require directors of European Union companies to ensure that their business strategy aligns with limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius, as agreed in the framework of the Paris climate agreement.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening along our value chains,” said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.

According to the proposal, EU companies will have to assess their supply chains at least once a year and before making major business decisions or starting new activities, for risks such as forced labour, children, inadequate workplace safety and environmental impacts such as pollution and ecosystem degradation.

If a company identifies such problems, it must take appropriate measures to prevent or stop them, for example by developing a corrective action plan that the supplier must agree to follow.

The Commission’s proposal will only become EU law after lengthy negotiations with the European Parliament and EU governments that will likely take more than a year.

It would apply to around 13,000 businesses in the EU, including the biggest businesses in the EU – those that employ more than 500 people and have a net turnover of more than €150 million.

Companies in high-impact sectors such as apparel, animals, forestry, food and beverage, and fossil fuel and metal mining are also covered if they have more than 250 employees and €40 million of net turnover.

Yet this means that 99% of European companies would be exempt.

EU lawmaker Lara Wolters, who led a parliament report last year calling for the law, welcomed the proposal but said small businesses in high-risk sectors could still contribute to abuse and should be covered. Read more

The law would also apply to around 4,000 companies outside the EU, but whose operations within the EU meet the turnover thresholds.

Compliance would be monitored by the governments of the 27 EU member states. Companies that ignore the law face fines.

EU companies could also be held liable for damages if their suppliers commit an infringement that could have been avoided or stopped through due diligence measures taken by the EU company.

Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Andrea Ricci

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BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) – The European Union has delivered emergency medical supplies to Ukraine following a request from Kiev amid an escalating crisis with Russia, the European Commission said on Saturday.

The request was made by Ukraine on Tuesday, amid growing fears of an imminent Russian invasion. Read more

So far, emergency aid has come from France, Romania, Slovenia, Ireland and Austria, the Commission said.

France sent a field hospital, medicines and hundreds of tents, blankets, sleeping bags. Additional aid, including medical equipment and generators, has been deployed by other EU countries. More help is expected in the coming days.

“Following a request for emergency aid from the Ukrainian government due to the threat of further escalation, the European Commission is coordinating the delivery of essential supplies to support the civilian population,” an EU statement said.

When the scale of an emergency exceeds a country’s response capabilities, it can request assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which coordinates assistance from the EU and other countries. Europeans.

Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio Editing by Mark Potter

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European Union flags fly outside the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

STRASBOURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) – European Union lawmakers and countries could reach an agreement by the end of June on proposed tech rules forcing online platforms to better police the internet despite their differences in approach, the lawmaker who is leading the negotiations said Monday.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) proposed by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager obliges Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) to unit Google and the owner of Facebook Meta (FB.O) to do more to tackle illegal content on their platforms or face fines of up to 6% of global revenue.

The first of its kind in the world, Vestager’s proposal must be approved by EU countries and lawmakers before it can become law.

“I’m optimistic we can get a deal done before the end of June,” MP Christel Schaldemose said in an interview.

His comments preceded talks with French Digital Affairs Minister Cédric O and European industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday, their second meeting on the matter. A third is scheduled for March 15.

Schaldemose said lawmakers want to broaden the scope of what online platforms must do, ban dark schemes that entice people to provide personal data to online businesses, and continue to let companies be regulated where they are based. .

“We are getting into the business models of the platforms. The Council is not so willing to go that far,” she said, citing the divergence over dark patterns.

“The Council wants the ban only for online marketplaces. The Parliament wants a ban on all platforms.”

Schaldemose said countries like Ireland, where Apple, Facebook and Google have their European headquarters, and Luxembourg, where Amazon is based, should continue to oversee companies in accordance with the “country of origin” principle.

“We stick to the country of origin principle more than we do in the Council,” she said, adding that the European Commission could also have a say, while EU countries want a role. more important for the EU executive.

EU lawmakers also want a ban on targeted advertising for minors and also that based on sensitive data like sexual or political orientation in order to comply with the bloc’s privacy rules, while countries in the EU collectively have a less strict position.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Richard Chang and Jan Harvey

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FRANKFURT/LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is bracing banks for a possible Russian-sponsored cyberattack as tensions with Ukraine mount, two people familiar with the matter said, as the region prepare for the financial fallout of any conflict.

The standoff between Russia and Ukraine has rattled European political and business leaders, who fear an invasion that would inflict damage on the entire region.

Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron shuttled from Moscow to Kiev in a bid to mediate after Russia massed troops near Ukraine.

Now the European Central Bank, headed by former French minister Christine Lagarde and which oversees Europe’s biggest lenders, is on high alert over the threat of cyberattacks on banks launched from Russia, the sources said.

While the regulator had focused on ordinary scams that have exploded during the pandemic, the Ukraine crisis has shifted its focus to cyberattacks launched from Russia, one of the people said, adding that the ECB has questioned the banks on their defenses.

Banks were hosting cyberwar games to test their ability to fend off an attack, the person said.

The ECB, which has named cybersecurity vulnerabilities as one of its priorities, declined to comment.

Its concerns are reflected around the world.

The New York Department of Financial Services issued an alert to financial institutions in late January, warning of retaliatory cyberattacks if Russia invades Ukraine and triggers U.S. sanctions, according to Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.

HIGH ALERT

The United States, the European Union and Britain have repeatedly warned Putin against an attack on Ukraine after Russia deployed around 100,000 troops near the border with its former Soviet neighbor.

Earlier this year, several Ukrainian websites were hit by a cyberattack that left a warning to “be afraid and expect the worst” as Russia had amassed troops near Ukraine’s borders.

Ukraine’s state security service SBU said it saw signs the attack was linked to hacker groups associated with Russian intelligence.

Russian officials say the West is gripped by Russophobia and has no right to lecture Moscow on how to act after expanding the NATO military alliance eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied that the Russian state has anything to do with hacking around the world and has said it is ready to cooperate with the United States and others to crack down on cybercrime.

Nevertheless, regulators in Europe are on high alert.

Britain’s National Cyber ​​​​Security Center has warned major organizations to build up their cybersecurity resilience in the face of heightened tensions over Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Mark Branson, the head of German supervisor BaFin, told an online conference that cyber warfare was interconnected with geopolitics and security.

The White House also blamed Russia for the devastating “NotPetya” cyberattack in 2017, when a virus crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure, destroying thousands of computers in dozens of countries.

The vulnerability was underscored again last year, when one of the world’s largest hacking campaigns used an American tech company as a springboard to compromise a series of US government agencies, an attack the White House called attributed to Russian foreign intelligence services.

The attack hacked SolarWinds Corp’s software, giving hackers access to thousands of companies using its products, spreading across Europe, where Denmark’s central bank said the “financial infrastructure” of the country had been affected.

Some, however, believe that the Ukrainian crisis has been exaggerated. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Washington and the media of causing panic.

Written by John O’Donnell; additional reporting by Pete Schroeder in Washington, Tom Sims in Frankfurt and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen

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LILLE, France, Feb 4 (Reuters) – EU justice ministers and tech giants Google (GOOGL.O) and Meta (FB.O) agreed on Friday that a clear legal framework was needed to boost cooperation against online hate, said the French Minister of Justice. noted.

Social media and online platforms face a series of legislative proposals on both sides of the Atlantic that will force them to do more to tackle hate speech and misinformation online.

In the EU, the Digital Services Act would force tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content on their platforms, with fines of up to 6% of global turnover for non-compliance.

“It is high time that we passed European legislation so that the platforms do not have the last word,” said Eric Dupond-Moretti, who hosted the meeting in Lille, in northern France. “We need a clear and precise framework that respects freedom of expression.”

Google’s chief legal adviser Kent Walker, who attended the meeting, told Reuters in an emailed comment that the company welcomes EU plans to facilitate the sharing of digital evidence.

“We believe the e-Evidence Regulations set a positive international precedent for meeting the needs of law enforcement while ensuring privacy and due process for users,”

said Walker, who is president of global affairs and chief legal officer at Google.

Twitter (TWTR.N), however, did not send a representative, which Dupond-Moretti criticized before the meeting.

“There will still be a chair, it will be empty, and there will be the Twitter tag in front of that chair, to show that they are not there and to regret it,” he said.

Twitter said the company was staying on the sidelines due to its own COVID rules, but was fully committed to working with authorities to make the internet safer.

Twitter lost a legal battle against hate speech in France last month, with judges saying it must disclose details about what it is doing to tackle online hate in the country. Read more

Reporting by Ingrid Melander in France and Foo Yun Chee in Belgium Writing by Ingrid Melander Editing by Peter Graff and David Evans

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Jan 31 (Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Monday and were expected to see their biggest monthly decline since last September as markets priced in higher rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve on economic data keys, while a stronger dollar put additional pressure on bullion.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,786.26 an ounce by 0428 GMT, taking its monthly decline to more than 2%.

US gold futures were flat at $1,786.50.

“It’s just that the continued rise in real rates is producing a more negative backdrop for gold, and I think the focus this week will be on nonfarm payrolls on Friday,” said Stephen Innes, Managing Partner at SPI. Asset Management.

“The markets (expect) only 100,000 to 150,000 new jobs. So if we get anything higher, it will further increase the possibility of a 50 basis point hike in March.”

The US Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates in March on the assumption that the economy will largely avoid fallout from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and continue to grow at a healthy pace. Read more

Although gold is considered a hedge against inflation, increases in interest rates would increase the opportunity cost of holding non-performing bullion.

The dollar index hovered near an 18-month high hit last Friday as traders eyed upcoming meetings of the Australian, British and European central banks. A stronger greenback makes bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Innes said the possibility of a rate hike by the Bank of England could slow the appreciation of the U.S. dollar, which could put a floor under safe-haven gold prices.

Spot gold could test resistance at $1,803 an ounce, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Spot silver fell 0.8% to $22.24 an ounce, while platinum was flat at $1,007.99.

Palladium fell 0.4% to $2,367.25, but the autocatalyst metal is expected to see its best monthly gain since February 2008, up around 25%.

Reporting by Asha Sistla in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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Jan 20 (Reuters) – Google is filing an appeal in the European Union’s top court against an earlier decision to uphold a $2.8 billion antitrust fine, a spokesman for the Alphabet unit said on Thursday evening. (GOOGL.O), the company’s second bid to vacate the sentence.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager fined the world’s most popular internet search engine in 2017 for using its own comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

The case was the first of three rulings that have seen Google rack up €8.25 billion in EU antitrust fines over the past decade. Read more

In November, the EU General Court largely dismissed Google’s challenge to the fine, saying the European Commission had correctly concluded that the company’s practices harmed competition.

The Luxembourg judges rejected the company’s argument that the presence of trading platforms showed that there was strong competition.

“After careful consideration, we have decided to appeal the Tribunal’s decision as we believe that certain areas require legal clarification from the European Court of Justice,” the Google spokesperson said in a statement.

“Regardless of the appeal, we continue to invest in our appeal, which has been operating successfully for several years, and we will continue to work constructively with the European Commission.”

Court support in November could also strengthen Vestager’s hand in his investigations of Amazon, Apple (AAPL.O) and Facebook (FB.O).

Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

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