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- FTSE 100 down 33 points to 7,401
- Miners dragging index
- House prices falls
Wheat prices soar as agreement draws to close
Wheat futures in the US rallied, surging past $6.8 per bushel from the one-month low of $6.3 touched on 12 July after Russia refused to extend the deal guaranteeing a safe trade corridor for vessels to export Ukrainian grain out of Black Sea ports.
Russian authorities previously signalled that the deal would not be extended past the 17 July deadline due to restrictions that the West placed on logistics impacting Russian exports, marking an end to the year-long scheme that linked wheat exports from one of the world's top producers just before this marketing year’s harvest.
First inked last year, the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative was set up to abate a global food crisis following Russia’s invasion of key grain exporter Ukraine.
Carlsberg and Danone's Russia arms seized by Kremlin
Over in Russia, and the Kremlin has taken control of subsidiaries of yoghurt maker Danone (LON:0KFX) and beer company Carlsberg (CSE:CARLa).
The units have been put in “temporary management” of the state in a new order signed by President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow introduced rules earlier this year allowing it to seize the assets of firms from "unfriendly" countries.
This came after many companies halted business in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Both Danone and Carlsberg were in the process of selling their Russian businesses.
FTSE 100 was down 12 points to 7,422.
Steel prices near five-week low
Steel rebar futures fell to below the CNY 3,675 per tonne mark in the middle of July, approaching a five-week low after China’s GDP growth disappointed market expectations and deepened concerns of low resource demand in the world’s top steel consumer.
Data also showed that property investment for the first half of the year sank by nearly 8%, pressured by low demand for new housing and persistent stress from the property sector’s debt crisis that started in 2020.
The underwhelming data added to hopes of renewed stimulus from the Chinese government, cushioning the drop in prices.
On the supply side, steel output rose by 1.1% from the previous month in June, while some mills in the production hub of Tanghsan returned to activity following some suspensions due to air quality concerns.
Anglo-American lost 2.7% to 2,286p, while Glencore (LON:GLEN) shed 2.6% to 454p.
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) lost around 1.9% to 5,113p and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) lost 1.8% to 1,508p.
Royal Mail bags passport contract
Royal Mail (LON:IDSI) said it won a five-year contract with the Passport Office for the delivery and collection of passports.
The postal service, owned by International Distributions Services, will also deliver a range of other important documents relating to UK visas and Immigration travel documents.
As part of the contract, Royal Mail will develop a dedicated customer experience team to manage any delivery queries.
The FTSE 250 company has already begun delivering some documents on behalf of the passport office and will become the primary service provider by October this year.
“We are immensely proud to have been awarded the contract for delivering the UK’s Passports. Everyone knows and trusts their postie and trust is so important for critical items like this. We are already working with HM Passport Office on further enhancements to the service that will roll out later this year,” said Nick Landon, chief commercial officer.