Oil hits 7-year low, Russia to issue China currency bonds and the world’s largest sunken treasure

This article is published in collaboration with FirstFT.

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Oil slumped to its lowest level since the financial crisis as traders reacted to a rancorous Opec meeting last week that exposed the organisation’s inability to tackle a global oil glut. Brent dropped 5 per cent toward $40 a barrel, while US marker West Texas Intermediate fell 5 per cent to $37.84.

The chaotic Opec meeting, along with mild weather forecasts, also prompted widespread selling of energy company shares. (FT, WSJ)

In the news

Russia to issue China currency bonds Moscow is preparing to raise $1bn in renminbi-denominated sovereign bonds in a move that could open a new source of foreign funding for Russian businesses shut out of capital markets in the US and Europe. The move would aid the global expansion of China’s currency and help promote similar cross-currency issuance by other big emerging markets, eating into the dominant role of the US dollar in global capital markets. (FT)

Trump calls for blanket entry ban on Muslims In an escalation of the already sharp rhetoric about Islam, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has called for a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the US. (FT)

JAB buys Keurig Green Mountain Germany’s secretive Reimann family launched a $13.9bn bid to take the coffee company private, as it builds what looks like a consumer coffee empire. JAB, the family’s investment vehicle, has spent nearly $30bn in the past three years on beverage groups ranging from instant coffee in Europe to hipster coffee chains in the US. The sale comes as a blow to billionaire investor David Einhorn, whose Greenlight Capital bet against Keurig shares — the deal sent the stock up 74 per cent. (FT, Reuters)

SEC prepares new Credit Suisse charges Authorities are set to accuse the Swiss lender of misleading investors by improperly inflating its reports of assets under management in its private bank. Negotiations between the bank and the SEC over potential civil charges are continuing and Credit Suisse is seeking to play down the effect of the reporting on investors. (FT)

Poll win for Venezuela opposition Venezuelan voters have delivered a heavy blow to the socialist government by granting the opposition a considerable majority in the national assembly, paving the way to a potential amnesty to political prisoners and a recall vote to remove embattled President Nicolás Maduro. Opposition leaders christened the result as the beginning of a new political era for the country with the world’s largest oil reserves. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Japan New data suggest the world’s No. 3 economy is no longer in a technical recession. The country’s Cabinet Office reported gross domestic product expanded at an annualised pace of 1 per cent in the third quarter, much better than the 0.8 per cent contraction that was initially reported. (fastFT)

Food for thought

Russia and radicalisation: Homegrown problem As in Europe, Russia is struggling to stop the radicalisation of young Muslims and their recruitment by Isis or other jihadi groups. But Moscow has an even more urgent and difficult task at hand: to prevent the war in Syria from fuelling its homegrown Islamist insurgency in the republics of the North Caucasus. (FT)

Why the west’s view of the Saudis is shifting You can read it in the newspapers. You can hear it from politicians. And you can see it in shifts in policy: the west’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is changing. The rise of Isis, human rights concerns and less dependence on oil are all contributing factors, writes Gideon Rachman. (FT)

Treasure-laden galleon found The wreck of a Spanish ship laden with treasure that was sunk by the British more than 300 years ago has been found off the Colombian coast, says President Juan Manuel Santos. It has been described as the holy grail of shipwrecks, as the ship was carrying one of the largest amounts of valuables ever to have been lost at sea. (BBC)

Revising history Jennifer Greenburg’s photos look like the type of thing you might find in an old family album — weddings, parties, lounging at the lake. But they are not her photos. Ms Greenburg has digitally — and very skilfully — inserted herself into period pictures with surprising and joyous results. (Wired)

Stonehenge’s original location New research into the megalithic monument suggests it could have stood in Wales for hundreds of years before being dismantled and transported to its current location on the Salisbury Plain in England. (Discovery)

Video of the day

Why is France’s National Front so popular? FT Paris bureau chief Anne-Sylvaine Chassany analyses the historic victory by France’s far-right National Front party in the first round of the country’s regional elections and examines Marine Le Pen’s leadership. (FT)

Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: Employees work on drilling rigs at an oil well. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins.