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Moscow lifts key interest rate to 17% Action after rouble tumbles on fears for oil and economy

Chevron calls off Ukraine shale project Cancellation deals a further blow to war-torn economy

Oil price fall threatens $1tn of projects Majors delay big-ticket production plans

The decline in oil prices is creating new risks to the global financial system, with figures showing that emerging market energy companies have built up more than $100bn in offshore debt, says the Times. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total borrowings of oil and gas companies in countries including Russia, Brazil and China, hit $135bn at the end of September, as countries in emerging markets struggle to deal with the drop in energy prices.

Falling oil price could hit planned North Sea projects, analyst warns: Major new North Sea oil projects could be shelved as a result of plummeting prices, a leading industry analyst has warned.

House prices fall by £30,000 in just four weeks in some parts of U.K.: Average asking price of a property coming to market in England and Wales drops by almost £9,000 between November and December, as asking prices in the capital fall by £30,000 in just 30 days.

Countryside to double building rate to combat homes shortage: Countryside has set out an ambitious expansion plan to double in five years the number of homes it builds as it aims to join the ranks of Britain’s biggest developers

Africa’s richest tycoon adds another $2 billion into Nigeria refinery: Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman, is increasing the size of his investment in an oil refinery, petrochemical and fertiliser plant in Nigeria by more than a fifth to $11 billion despite a looming slowdown in Africa’s biggest economy

Gulf stock markets dive with oil price: Dubai’s stock exchange suffered its biggest one-day drop since the global financial crisis in 2008 amid signs the Opec cartel of oil-producing countries could let the oil price fall another third to $40 a barrel.

UK Rightmove house price index recorded a drop in December In the UK, the Rightmove house price index registered a drop of 3.30% in December on a MoM basis. The Rightmove house price index had registered a drop of 1.70% in the prior month.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.44% or $0.27 higher at $62.12 per barrel. On Friday, the contract declined 2.87% or $1.83, to settle at $61.85 per barrel after the International Energy Agency (IEA) reduced its 2015 global oil demand outlook for the fourth time in five months. The IEA slashed its demand forecast by 230,000 barrels a day to about 900,000 barrels a day in 2015.

Sports Direct staff set to pocket £34 million in bonuses as sales soar: Sportswear retailer Sports Direct is set to pay out £34 million in bonuses to staff next year after beating sales and profits targets at the half year stage.

Dixons Carphone set for bumper maiden results following £3.7 billion tie-up: Dixons Carphone’s maiden results since it was created in a £3.7 billion tie-up should next week reveal strong trading from the Currys/PC World part of the business.

U.K. construction output shrinks in October: Britain’s builders have had a poor start to the final quarter of the year with an unexpected 2.2% drop in construction output in October.

Hold Bellway for income: House-builder Bellway said that the period of rapid revenue growth in London had now abated. House prices have soared since the introduction of the government’s Help to Buy scheme in 2013. The Chancellor in March this year extended the scheme until 2020. Bellway has seen its pretax profits more than double from £105.3 million in 2012 to £245.9 million this year. Market expectations are for pretax profits to hit £309 million next year on revenues up 14% to £1.7 billion, giving 197p in earnings per share. Shares in Bellway have more than doubled from 740p in early 2012. Bellway has decided to return these bumper profits to investors through dividends. The shareholders were rewarded with a 73.3% increase in the dividend this year with the payment raised from 30p to 52p. The board said they expect to maintain dividend cover of three times earnings. So, with Bellway on target to achieve 197p in earnings per share next year, that leaves the way open for a 62p total dividend, or a prospective yield of 3.8. The shares are currently trading on 9.5 times forecast earnings and don’t look overly expensive given the rising profits. We picked Bellway as one of our tips of the year due to the assistance it is getting from the Help to Buy scheme and we would hold on to pick up that income. Demand is cooling but prices remain high and the order book up 45% to £1.1 billion secures future revenues. Bellway at £18.43 Questor says ‘Hold’.

Oil price crash means £55 billion of projects face axe: Dozens of new oil projects in the North Sea and Europe could be shelved as falling prices force international oil companies to tear up their investment plans.

First-time buyers boost mortgage lending: Mortgage loans to first-time buyers jumped by 12% in October compared to the previous month, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Santander U.K. turns to Vadera as its ‘strong, independent Chairwoman’: Baroness Vadera, the former investment banker who had the job of calling Gordon Brown in the middle of the night to give him the details of the bailout of Britain’s lenders, was named as the first woman to chair a British bank.

Oil prices tumbled in the last week after OPEC, in its monthly report, lowered its world oil demand forecast for 2015. The cartel now expects demand to be at its weakest level since 2003. Moreover, the US Energy Information Administration slashed its 2015 oil price projections by $15 per barrel to average $68 per barrel, while Saudi Arabia questioned the need to cut oil output and Kuwait offered the biggest discount to Asia since 2008, pressurising the commodity further. Brent crude oil prices plunged 10.5% to $61.85/barrel

The world's top energy watchdog has slashed its oil demand forecast for 2015 sending Brent crude prices sharply sharply lower. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday that world demand for oil will grow by 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year, a downward revision of 230,000 bpd from its previous estimate. The Paris-based watchdog now expects world demand to reach 93.3m bpd in 2015. The agency said: "A strong dollar and the lifting of subsidies have so far limited supportive price effects on demand." Brent crude - global pricing benchmark - fell 0.8pc to just over $63 per barrel following the release of the report, which has added to a 45pc slump in prices since June. The IEA's market summary will add to pressure building on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to bring forward its next scheduled meeting to cut output. The cartel is viewed as the world's swing producer, accounting for about a third of global supply. However, Opec nations led by Saudi Arabia are reluctant to make cuts unless other major producers outside the group such as Russia, the US and Mexico, also trim output.