oil

The precipitous decline in the oil price has continued this morning, with a further slump in Brent crude seeing it trade below $50 for the first time in more than five years.

The FTSE 100 has dropped sharply again this morning as fears over significant falls in the oil price and other macroeconomic issues weighed on stocks.

The FTSE 100 is set to post a loss of around 2.5% for 2014 after falling back sharply yesterday (30 December) following several days of gains.

Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi, the most significant voice in the OPEC cartel, has said the group will not cut production even if the price of oil falls to $20 a barrel.

Matthew Tillett from Allianz explains why he has been buying oil majors on weakness and taking advantage of illiquidity.

Vladimir Putin has said Russia could take as long as two years to recover from its burgeoning economic crisis.

A hawkish statement from the Federal Reserve has been perceived by markets as another step towards an interest rate rise, although it is unlikely to come before April 2015.

Guinness Asset Management chief executive Tim Guinness believes the price of Brent crude oil will fall to as low as $40 a barrel - and then rebound sharply.

The FTSE 100 has endured a volatile session as the impact of the falling oil price and Russian currency collapse continue to reverberate around global markets.

Russia has raised its interest rates to 17% to prevent further depreciation of the ruble, which has halved in value against the dollar this year.