Bloomberg Australian household spending recovered strongly, defying expectations that a renewed coronavirus outbreak would keep shoppers at home, as a shift to living with Covid prompted consumers to head out to shop. Retail sales jumped 1.8% in January to A$32.5 billion ($23.3 billion), compared with a forecast gain of just 0.3%, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. Sales across …

  Bloomberg US futures fluctuated and stocks were lower as investors assessed the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on commodity supply and the global economy. Oil topped $110. Contracts on US gauges were little changed, after the S&P 500 swung between losses and gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was also lower, after briefly erasing declines. Ericsson led a …

Bloomberg Cryptocurrencies continued to pull away from stocks as the intensifying war in Ukraine prompts investors to look for safe havens. Bitcoin advanced as much as 2% in early trading in Hong Kong before giving up some gains. It has jumped 17% over the past three days — a period during which President Vladimir Putin stepped up shelling of Ukrainian …