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HOUSTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The strike by U.S. refinery workers, which entered its 16th day on Monday, could spread if there is no progress in talks this week with plant on owners on safe staffing levels, said the leader of United Steelworkers union (USW) contract bargaining program. "The longer that this strike rolls on, the more people that will be affected," said Gary Beevers, USW international vice president, in a telephone interview on Monday. Asked if the lack of progress in talks with lead oil company negotiator Royal Dutch Shell Plc could result more strikes, Beevers said: "There certainly will be." About 5,200 workers from 11 plants, including nine refineries accounting for 13 percent of U.S. capacity, were walking picket lines after talks between the USW and Shell Oil Co failed to reach an agreement on a new national contract.

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Studies on the health impact of "plain" or standardised cigarette packs suggest they can deter non-smokers from taking up the habit and may cut the number of cigarettes smokers get through, scientists said on Tuesday. In a collection of scientific papers in the journal Addiction, researchers said that while standardised packs were still too new to provide substantial evidence, studies so far showed they were likely to reduce smoking rates. Britain plans before May to become the second country in the world to introduce non-branded, standardised packaging for cigarettes, after the government promised last month to pass legislation that would come into effect in 2016. Australia introduced standardised packaging two years ago in the face of fierce opposition from the tobacco industry. Its law forced cigarettes to be sold in plain green packs with health warnings and images showing the damaging effects of smoking.

Has a bombshell has landed in the housing market this morning? Britain’s chronic shortage of homes is the main driver behind the average asking price for a property surging by £5,729, or 2.1 per cent, this month, after what had looked to be a tempering market. The 2.1 per cent rise in February is up on January's 1.4 per cent, and takes the annual rate of change to 6.6 per cent, which, despite February's boom, is down from 8.2 per cent. This is largely due to a booming second month last year, when the average price grew 3.6 per cent. According to Rightmove, which keeps a house price index on the asking price of homes across the country, a number of estate agents reported that stock levels of quality properties are at their lowest ever. The evidence, although anecdotal, reflects what we’ve known for a time: Britain needs more houses. This was backed up by January 2015 being the busiest ever month on Rightmove’s site, although there may be other factors at play, not least the perceived beginning of a Zoopla decline. Zoopla is coming under pressure from OnTheMarket, a new website, which is forcing users to choose between RightMove and Zoopla. Many people seem to be choosing Rightmove. Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said: For the right property at the right price, demand is outstripping supply and leading to some further upwards price pressure. However there is a limit to what the majority are willing or can afford to pay, especially with the tighter lending criteria. In locations where there is a tight-stock market some different tactics are required for a successful move as competition gets fiercer for quality homes as demand increases. The increased demand can be summed up in another statistic too: there has been a 31 per cent increase in the number of transactions in England and Wales over the last two years, a figure streets ahead of the 11 per cent rise in the number of properties coming to market. London is always a different beast when it comes to property. The cpaital's average price gre from £566,404 in January to £582,438 an increase of 2.8 per cent. That makes the annual change 9.7 per cent, the fastest in the country.

Playtech Plc (PTEC.L) Announced the acquisition of UK-based Yoyo Games Limited (""Yoyo""). The company stated that Yoyo, which is headquartered in Dundee, is the home of Game Maker: Studio™ (""GMS""), a mobile driven cross-platform casual game development technology that enables developers to create games using a single programming code and then publish them to run natively across most common platforms, including iOS, Android, OS X, HTML5, PlayStation, Xbox, Ubuntu, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT. The entire Game Maker family of products has been downloaded more than five million times. The company also mentioned that the consideration for the acquisition, which will be funded from company’s existing cash balances, is $16.4 million, of which 30% will be held in escrow for up to 36 months after closing to provide security in respect of claims. In addition, an earn-out consideration and a retention plan is expected to add a further US$5.25 million to the aggregate cost.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has upgraded its growth prediction for 2015, citing the drop in oil price and lower inflation as the main reasons behind its decision. It now expects the year to see growth of 2.7%, up from previous forecasts of 2.5%. The decision to upgrade the outlook is also a reflection of the likelihood that the Monetary Policy Committee won't raise interest rates until early next year. It is a case of "steady as she goes" the CBI said, with the economy expanding by 0.7% each quarter, aided by greater levels of job creation and a long-awaited pick-up in wage growth. Katja Hall, the CBI's deputy director-general, said UK growth continued to "outshine its counterparts in Europe", but noted that although reduced oil prices means lower costs for businesses and consumers, the North Sea oil companies have taken a hit, which is harming jobs and investment in the industry. "Now is not the time for complacency, but falling unemployment coupled with improving wage growth and rock bottom inflation should mean that people see more money in their pockets," she continued. "But businesses are looking on anxiously as insecurity continues to troll the Eurozone and instability remains elsewhere." Looking further ahead, gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow strongly in 2016, by 2.6% over the year as a whole, equal to growth of 0.6% a quarter. The price of oil is expected to remain below $65 per barrel until the end of 2016. On the back of lower oil prices, consumer price inflation is expected to stay below 1% throughout most of 2015. "While the risk of deflation is growing, the CBI does not see a sustained period of widespread falling prices as likely, with the downward pressure from the oil price effect unwinding over time," Hall said. Business investment is also predicted to play a strong part in the economy's growth, increasing by 5.8% this year and by 6.5% in 2016. The UK unemployment rate is expected to continue its downward trend in 2015 and into next year, levelling off at 5.2%, while wage growth is expected to reach 3.0% by the final quarter of next year. Meanwhile, exports remain a weak spot, and while some improvement is expected, the net trade contribution to GDP growth will be "small at best". This is forecast to weigh on the outlook for manufacturing output. "While growth is expected to improve slowly, from 1.5% in the first quarter of 2015 to 1.8% by the end of 2016, it will remain underwhelming," Hall said.

Oil groups issue cheaper bonds than 2014 Analysts say investors believe biggest companies have the strength to weather price collapse

Chinese fund to invest £1 billion in new London financial district: China Minsheng Investment, the country’s largest private investment fund, said over the weekend that it would invest £1 billion in a Chinese-led project to develop a new financial district in London.

Inflation worries shaped Bank of England interest rate vote: Worries about the UK’s economy entering into a deflationary spiral stayed the hand of two Bank of England board members who had wanted an early interest rate rise.

Conflicting U.K. house price data points to two-tier market: Two national indices published on Monday paint sharply contrasting portraits of the U.K. property market, adding to erratic data over the past month that has left economists increasingly puzzled.

Smith & Nephew bets on technology that ‘sees through the skin’: Smith & Nephew has bet on a new technology that enables doctors to “see through the skin”, in the hope that it could be used by the company’s growing wound care business.

Natural gas projects mothballed as the oil slump spills over: BG’s $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in east Africa is under threat after the slump in oil prices spread to global gas markets. Oil union threat over squeeze on workers: An oil workers’ union has threatened industrial action in the North Sea as companies continue to reduce pay and make changes to working practices

UK Rightmove house price index rose in February The Rightmove house price index climbed 6.60% on a YoY basis in the UK, in February. The Rightmove house price index had climbed 8.20% in the prior month.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.28% or $0.17 lower at $61.35 per barrel. On Friday, the contract surged 7.84% or $4.47, to settle at $61.52 per barrel, after data revealed that the number of actively drilled US oil rigs fell in the week ended February 13. Moreover, demand expectations for the commodity were boosted after the German and Eurozone economy expanded more than expected during the fourth quarter

Upmarket apartments in the new Battersea Power Station development, which are not even built yet, are already being sold on at a 40pc mark-up, fuelling fears that investors are “flipping” the flats and pushing up prices. An early-bird investor who reserved an unbuilt flat in the south London scheme two years ago is understood to stand to make about £150,000 by selling the apartment on the market. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat in Faraday House is part of phase one of the residential conversion of the prestigious landmark and is expected to be completed by next year. The investor is thought to have put a 10pc or 20pc deposit down in February 2013 to reserve the apartment with a £722,000 price tag, as part of a flurry of property companies and investors who snapped up the first 600 homes. The property has now been put on the market by the estate agent Chestertons, with an asking price of £865,000.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of England will need to start raising interest rates sooner than investors expect as inflation recovers from current low levels, Martin Weale, a policymaker at the central bank, said. Weale, one of two BoE's rate-setters who voted for an increase in borrowing costs last year, said the Bank expected inflation to rise above its target of 2 percent by mid-2017 and it would need to raise rates gradually in response. "In my own view, rates will also have to rise somewhat earlier than market participants currently expect," he wrote in an article published in the Observer newspaper. The BoE has kept rates at a record low of 0.5 percent since the financial crisis six years ago. Investors think rates could stay there for another year due to low inflation, even as the economy heads for its strongest growth in nearly a decade. Weale said he had stopped voting for a rate increase in January because a plunge in oil prices might lead to expectations of low inflation becoming built in. December's inflation rate of 0.5 percent was the lowest in more than 14 years. It could fall again in data due on Tuesday. Weale said the risks of inflation rising more quickly than expected or becoming entrenched at a low level were "finely balanced." If it needed to fend off the risk of deflation, the BoE could revive its government bond-buying programme, Weale said, saying his research showed it remained effective. Also reiterating policy options that the Bank spelled out last week, Weale said a further interest rate cut was possible. The Bank might could again provide guidance on how rates were likely to stay low for even longer "although the effects of such an approach are particularly uncertain," he said. Weale was the only BoE rate-setter who did not back the introduction of "forward guidance" in 2013 shortly after Mark Carney took over as governor. (Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Analysts expect healthy full year results from Standard Life: A healthy set of financial results Standard Life for 2014 is expected on Friday, with a 67% slump in annuity sales experienced last year expected to pick up again from April this year.

Customers walk out of rivals to mutual’s benefit: Profits at Nationwide more than doubled in the first nine months of last year as Britain’s biggest building society continued to benefit from customers deserting rivals to bank with the customer-owned lender.

Challenger banks in takeover talks: TSB, the bank spun out of Lloyds last summer, has held takeover talks with Aldermore, the small-business bank.

Oil prices ended higher last week, amid growing expectations that reduced US drilling would help counter a global glut in oil supply. Moreover, OPEC lowered its outlook for global oil supply growth in 2015 and projected that demand for its own oil would increase to 29.2 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, the commodity came under pressure after the EIA reported that US crude oil stockpiles advanced 4.87 million barrels to 417.9 million barrels in the week ended February 6, the highest weekly level since 1982. Additionally, the API reported that oil inventories rose 1.6 million barrels last week. Brent crude oil prices jumped 4.8% to $61.52/barrel

SMALL CAP MOVERS: Oil industry firms are the two biggest losers in AIM 100 index as Gfinity leads the way for 'new media' By Jamie Ashcroft, Proactive Investors For This Is Money Published: 15:23, 13 February 2015 | Updated: 15:23, 13 February 2015 Gfinity, another AIM newbie, had good news for investors as the organiser of 'eSports' video game events revealed it had landed a deal to host the Europe championship for the Call of Duty game. The 'new media' group is part of the digital land-grab for the attentions of online gamers, it is among a group of firms aiming to follow in the footsteps of 100million-hit-a-month video platform Twitch, which broadcasts live online gaming over the internet. Twitch was bought for about US$1billion by Amazon last year, and was also on Microsoft and Google’s wanted list - so the 'blue sky' possibilities are there to see. While there is a very long way to go for Gfinity to those kinds of numbers, the endorsement of Call of Duty, and its publisher Activision, indicates Gfinity may be one to watch.