Oil prices rebounded in Asia Thursday after falling sharply to fresh five-year lows in the previous session as OPEC cut its forecast for demand in 2015 and U.S. stockpiles saw a surprise surge, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery rose 44 cents to $61.38 while Brent crude for January was up 40 cents at $64.64 in afternoon trade.

France Wednesday unveiled a controversial package of reforms to energise its crisis-hit economy, including a plan to expand Sunday trading for shops that has sparked outrage in some quarters.

The proposed measures also included a plan to open up traditionally closed-shop sectors of the economy, such as for bailiffs and notaries, who plan to hit the streets in an unusual white-collar protest.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev urged Russians to be patient Wednesday as the ruble plunges due to falling oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, and said the currency was now undervalued.

"It's definitely not necessary to go into hysterics," Medvedev said in a televised interview.

U.S. authorities will monitor Britain's Standard Chartered bank for another three years, following the large fines paid in 2012 for sanctions violations, the lender said Wednesday.

Standard Chartered said in a statement that it has "agreed to extend the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) entered into in December 2012 with the U.S. Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney's Office."

Global airline association IATA on Friday raised the sector's profit forecast to a record $19.9 billion for 2014 and $25 billion for 2015, as plunging oil prices drive down costs.

"Lower oil prices and stronger worldwide GDP growth are the main drivers behind the improved profitability," IATA said in a statement.

Energy-starved Ukraine said on Tuesday it had received the first Russian natural gas shipments since a politically charged price dispute saw Moscow cut off supplies to its Westward-leaning neighbor in June.

The announcement means that the war-torn nation of 45 million people should have enough power to heat homes through the bitter winter months.

Shares in Australian energy companies were hammered Tuesday by plunging oil and commodity prices, with BHP hitting a five-year low and Santos at levels not seen for a decade.

Oil and gas companies were among the biggest losers on Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 index as the energy sector shed 4.81 percent. It is down 22.24 percent over the past month.

Greek stocks lost over 6.5 percent on Tuesday after the government unexpectedly brought forward a high-stakes presidential election, sparking fears of a political stalemate.

The Athens general index fell to 967 points an hour after opening, as analysts warned that the uncertainty could stall Greece's fiscal reforms.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce on Tuesday defended the airline after it was forced to divert or turn around three planes in one day, saying its record was better than most.

Three Qantas flights made unscheduled landings on Monday, including an A380 that was put into a controlled descent and requested a priority landing in Perth after its air-conditioning system malfunctioned.

A strike against austerity measures by Belgium's new government on Monday paralyzed public transport and caused havoc with international flights and train services in the capital.

All underground trains, buses and trams were halted in Brussels while high-speed train links to cities in France, the Netherlands and Germany were also suspended, officials said.