Mindful of the risk that fresh sanctions on Venezuela might push up oil prices in a US election year, Washington will allow US major Chevron to continue a joint venture with Venezuela’s national oil company PDVSA, which has been steadily increasing output.

Momentum in economies including the US and India has been picking up in recent months, helping stoke optimism that global growth in 2024 will modestly outpace last year’s reading, according to research for the Financial Times.

“While the environment is constructive and markets expect a soft landing,” Solomon said, “the trajectory is still uncertain”.

X, TikTok and other big online platforms will be subject to EU fines for lax moderation within weeks, as Brussels rolls out its first binding regime to fight election disinformation.

The guidelines, designed to counter online threats to the integrity of elections, are to be adopted by the European Commission as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the plans.