Oil stayed below $40 a barrel in Asia Monday after the OPEC cartel decided against slashing high output levels and traders turned their attention on a U.S. central bank meeting next week.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January was down 33 cents at $39.64 and Brent crude for January was trading 22 cents lower at $42.78 a barrel at around 0655 GMT.

Israel's state-owned electric utility says Egyptian natural gas companies will pay it compensation of $1.76 billion for halting gas supplies.

Egypt stopped selling natural gas to Israel in 2012 after months of attacks on a pipeline by militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The Israeli electric company sued the Egyptian providers EGPC and EGAS for $4 billion in damages. The company said it suffered heavy damages after gas supplies were halted and that it was forced to buy more expensive fuel to generate electricity, raising its costs

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued a warning Sunday over an "uneasy calm" within financial markets, noting that the global economy remains vulnerable to serious disruptions. 

The BIS -- known as the central bank of central banks -- made the call in its quarterly report which is closely watched by investors. 

OPEC's policy of maintaining high oil production risks heaping more downward pressure on oil prices, especially with Iranian crude set to enter the global marketplace, analysts say.

While lower prices eat into the revenues of the oil cartel's members, cheap crude may result in lower production from non-OPEC nations -- helping countries like Saudi Arabia preserve their market share.

As Spain's flagship renewable energy giant Abengoa teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, concerns are mounting over the fate of thousands of employees and its numerous projects around the world, just weeks ahead of crux general elections.

The group filed for protection from its creditors late last month, giving it four months to find a solution to its astronomical debt or go bankrupt and become Spain's biggest-ever corporate failure.

Portugal's new left-wing, anti-austerity government announced late Friday it was moving to halt the privatization of transport systems in Lisbon and Porto, a measure introduced by its right-wing predecessor.

The government will ask the Court of Auditors to "suspend the authorization approval" which would have greenlit the privatization, it said in a statement carried by the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

With this week's big events finished, Wall Street is beginning to turn its sights back to the Federal Reserve and to the prospects of a "Santa Claus rally."

Next week's calendar is light compared with this week's news deluge, which included a European Central Bank meeting, an OPEC meeting and major public appearances by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday hailed troubled Greece's economic recovery efforts in the midst of a huge migration challenge as he arrived in Athens for a brief visit.

"I appreciate the way you are approaching economic reforms efforts (...) it is not easy," Kerry told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Volkswagen car sales in Britain dropped by 20 percent in November compared to the same time last year following the company's admission it had cheated on U.S. diesel emissions tests.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says there were 12,958 Volkswagen registrations last month in the U.K., compared to 16,196 in November 2014. Volkswagen admitted in September it had installed a device in computer software that allowed it to rig emission tests.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $60 billion of assistance and loans for Africa at a summit in Johannesburg on Friday, signalling China's commitment to the continent despite a recent fall in investment.

China's economic growth has taken a dip this year, triggering a global commodities slump and forcing Beijing to slash investment in Africa by more than 40 percent in the first six months of 2015.