On Friday, global stock markets were uneven after Western nations announced further sanctions against Russia, and President Vladimir Putin attempted to prop up Moscow's collapsing ruble by threatening to force Europe to pay for gas exports in Russian currency. London and Shanghai fell, whilst Tokyo rose, and Frankfurt remained unchanged.

Oil prices dropped, but remained above USD110 per barrel. After a day of gains, Wall Street futures dipped as the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits plummeted to a 52-year low. More sanctions were promised at a summit of Western leaders in Brussels on Thursday. They were aimed to "intensify the agony" on Putin, according to US President Joe Biden, but the leaders provided no details on prospective new sanctions. Putin has threatened to make European customers who rely on Russian gas pay in rubles, a move that would raise demand for the Russian currency and push up the exchange rate, which has fallen due to sanctions. On Thursday, European leaders rejected that notion, potentially igniting a conflict over energy supplies.

The FTSE 100 in London dipped 0.2 percent to 7,454.92, while the DAX in Frankfurt fell less than 0.1 percent to 14,267.95 in early trading. In Paris, the CAC fell 0.1 percent to 6,550.00. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.2 percent in the futures market on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.1 percent.

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