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At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.45% or $0.23 lower at $50.87 per barrel ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract declined 3.78% or $2.01, to settle at $51.10 per barrel, hitting fresh five and a half year low, amid lingering concerns of a global oil supply glut. Meanwhile, oil prices found little support despite the American Petroleum Institute reporting that the US oil stockpiles fell 4 million barrels during the last week.

WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - US crude oil plummeted over four % to end sharply lower on Tuesday, plunging to its lowest in more than five years ahead of the weekly official US crude stockpile report with inventories expected to rise. Oil prices continued to be hampered by worries of a supply glut amid renewed concerns about the future of the eurozone. With the falling crude prices, US stocks also continued to drop sharply amid continued speculation over the probable exit of Greece from the euro region, depending on the outcome of the general elections scheduled for the end of January. A Greek exit could set off a domino effect should other eurozone members struggling to cope with austerity decide to leave the currency bloc as well. Analysts believe the oil markets to be oversupplied with some even anticipating crude prices nearUSD40 by months end. Crude oil prices have plummeted from aboveUSD100 just this summer, with gasoline prices in the US down for 102 straight days. The national average for a gallon of gas was down toUSD2.18, according to GasBuddy.com.

Largest out-of-court settlement for Nigerian spills * Individual Bodo community members to share 35 mln stg * Money to be paid directly into personal accounts * Further 20 mln stg to be used for community projects By Julia Payne and Simon Falush ABUJA/LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell will pay out 55 million pounds ($83.4 million) in compensation for two oil spills in Nigeria in 2008 after agreeing a settlement with the affected community. The largest ever out-of-court settlement relating to oil spills in Nigeria is a step forward for the oil-rich Niger Delta region that has been hit by regular environmental damage, but it is tiny compared with the billions in compensation and fines BP had to pay after the Macondo rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Though significantly higher than the 30 million pounds Shell had previously said it would be willing to pay, its deal is a fraction of the 300 million pounds-plus originally sought by the Bodo community in the Niger Delta.

Londoners hit record number: London’s population is forecast to reach record levels this year according to figures from the Greater London Authority.

Bargain hunters eye North Sea: OIL and gas entrepreneur Tom Cross has said the Parkmead Group he runs still plans to expand in the North Sea in 2015 in spite of the slump in the oil price.

Most homeowners not saving for interest rate rise, survey finds: Three-quarters of U.K. homeowners are not saving extra money to cope with the interest rate rise that is expected for this autumn, a survey has shown, raising the prospect that they will be caught unprepared

Oil majors set for dismal results amid price slump: Oil majors are expected to lay bare the devastating impact of the slump in crude prices next month, when they are forecast to reveal the lowest quarterly returns since 1998.

UK construction PMI registered a drop in December In the UK, the Markit construction PMI registered a drop to 57.60 in December, lower than market expectations of a drop to 59.00. The construction PMI had recorded a level of 59.40 in the preceding month.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.3% or $0.16 higher at $53.27 per barrel ahead of the American Petroleum Institute weekly oil inventory data to be released later today. Separately, Saudi Arabia has increased the price of its oil sales to Asia in February. Yesterday, the contract declined 5.87% or $3.31, to settle at $53.11 per barrel, trading at their lowest level since 2009, amid concerns of a global glut in oil supply. Additionally, oil prices came under pressure after Saudi Arabia slashed its monthly oil prices for European consumers and trimmed prices for the US refiners

The US oil price fell below the symbolic threshold of $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009, before finishing the day at $50.05. The price of Brent crude also fell on Monday, dipping 6% to $53 a barrel. The price of both Brent crude and US oil, known as West Texas Intermediate crude, have now lost more than half of their value since mid-2014. Investors are worried that combination of a global supply glut and weak demand could cause prices to tumble further. US oil production has soared recently, as fracking - or the process of extracting oil from shale rock by injecting fluids into the ground - has revolutionised oil production in the country, transforming US states such as North Dakota and Pennsylvania in the process. However, the increase in production has come just as economies across the world - from Europe to China - have slowed their once voracious demand for oil. This, combined with Opec's decision to continue extracting oil at its current pace, has left many investors worried. That has in turn led shares of many of the world's leading energy firms, from BP to Exxon Mobil, to decline sharply over the past few months

U.S. natural gas: withdrawal symptoms: Production from new wells declined quickly once they came on stream. Prices rose as much as sixfold between 2001 and 2005. The success of shale gas changed things, and most gas traders went short long ago. But last year’s frigid U.S. winter tightened supplies, sending the gas price higher. But the inventory number alone does not reflect this year’s increase in gas supply, due in part to new pipelines in the northeast. Previously, producers in areas such as the Marcellus could not get all their gas to market. Now they can. The added supply will more than cover any shortfall, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. At nearly 73 billion cf per day, the gas flowing exceeds last year’s by nearly 8%. This could add 150 billion cf to supply each month. At that rate any inventory shortage would disappear quickly. So gas prices have resumed their descent, down 29% over the past month. Equity traders do not expect much improvement. Shares in U.S. gas explorers have suffered with their oily peers. A price index of gas specialists such as Range Resources, Chesapeake and Southwestern Energy has lost 35% since oil peaked in June, only marginally less than an index of oil explorers. Given the added gas supply, U.S. oil explorers, such as EOG, should perform better versus gas specialists in the months ahead (ironically, EOG used to be a top gas producer).

UK net lending to individuals recorded a rise in November Net lending to individuals in the UK advanced £3.30 billion in November. Net lending to individuals had recorded a revised advance of £2.70 billion in the prior month. UK net lending secured on dwellings advanced more than expected in November In November, net lending secured on dwellings in the UK rose £2.10 billion, higher than market expectations for an advance of £1.40 billion. In the prior month, net lending secured on dwellings had recorded a revised rise of £1.60 billion.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.31% or $0.74 lower at $55.68 per barrel. On Friday, the contract declined 1.59% or $0.91, to settle at $56.42 per barrel, after data revealed that crude oil production in Russia and Iraq rose to the highest levels in decades in December. Moreover, demand concerns for the commodity were ignited following downbeat US and Eurozone manufacturing data in December

People aiming to buy their first property in London have to pay nine times their annual income, a research has shown. According to figures released by Nationwide, property prices in London have hit an all-time high, with the average London first-time buyer's mortgage payments as a percentage of mean take-home pay stood at 61.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014. First time buyers across Britain have to pay on average five times their annual income to buy a home and mortgage payments amount to 34% of take-home pay.

Good morning Mate I hope you are well and enjoyed the Xmas holidays. Let's hope the Small Cap. Market in 2015 is more resilient than in 2014. GFinity is blessed with a good management team and a stable shareholder base so hopefully as we get into the second half of 2015; we will begin to see their strategy bearing fruit.

I could not agree more mate. Everything seems to revolve around electronic gadgets to tempt people to part with their spare cash as well as huge pressure on parents particularly at Xmas time to buy the latest gadget for their children,etc

U.K. manufacturing boosted by weak oil prices: Factories will likely remain reliant on home comforts and a further pick–up in orders from overseas markets such as North America and the Middle East to compensate for lacklustre sales to the U.K.’s biggest trading partner.

Oil price slump continues into the New Year as Brent Crude dips to lowest point for five and half years: The near-halving in the price of oil was one of the standout themes of 2014 – and the slippage continued into the New Year. Brent Crude dipped as low as $55.48 a barrel in early trading, registering its lowest point for five-and-a-half years.

Oil prices declined this past week, continuing their steep decline, amid continued speculation that the global oil supply glut would persist in the new year. However, oil prices found support after conflicts in Libya escalated and threatened to disrupt oil supplies. Separately, the API reported that crude oil inventories rose last week, while the EIA announced that crude oil stockpiles unexpectedly declined in the week ended 26 December 2014. Brent crude oil prices fell 8.5% to $56.42/barrel

UK money supply expanded 2.9% year-on-year in November, but mortgage approvals fell for the fifth month in a row to a 17-month low, according to the Bank of England. That was less than the previous month's tally of 3.3%. In aggregate, lending to individuals increased by 0.2% over the month to reach £1,462bn. Mortgage approvals at year-and-a-half lows Of that amount, lending secured on homes also grew by 0.2% to reach £1,294.1bn. A total of 59,029 mortgages for home purchase, for £9.6bn, were approved in November. That marked a fifth month of declines, to hit a 17-month low, although the rate of decrease slowed. Mortgages were 22.9% below the 74-month high reached in January 2014, "pointing to a clear underlying moderation in housing market activity," economic research group IHS Global Insight said. Nevertheless, the weakening in buyer interest may well be close to bottoming out, IHS chief European and UK economist Howard Archer said. Bond issuance picks up Meanwhile, consumer credit grew by 0.7% to £168.8bn, after having expanded by 6.9% over the last 12 months. Net finance raised by private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) from monetary financial institutions (MFIs) and capital markets grew by £2.5bn, mainly due to £3.2bn in bonds issued by PNFCs.