Benchmark oil contract Brent North Sea crude slid to its lowest level since mid-2009 on Wednesday, having lost about half of its value since the middle of the year.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February hit $55.81 a barrel on the final trading day of the year, the lowest point since May 7, 2009. It later recovered slightly to stand at $56.08, down $1.82 compared with the close on Tuesday.

Hamas civil servants went on strike Wednesday after the Palestinian government said it would rehire thousands of Gaza staff who were laid off when the Islamist movement seized power in 2007. 

Hundreds blocked the entrance to the Gaza City headquarters of the consensus government, a day after it pledged to rehire tens of thousands of workers laid off seven years ago, potentially threatening the livelihood of the 50,000 or so people Hamas hired to replace them.

The rise of populist parties across Europe should act as a wake-up call for governments to finally get their economies in order, a top European Central Bank official said Wednesday.

"The rise of populism should be a wake-up call," the ECB's chief economist Peter Praet told the financial daily Boersen-Zeitung in a wide-ranging interview.

Venezuela confirmed Tuesday that it has entered recession, while annual inflation topped 63 percent, exacerbating the outlook for an economy already hit by crippling shortages and crashing oil prices.

The South American oil giant's economy shrank 2.3 percent in the third quarter, after contracting 4.8 percent in the first quarter and 4.9 percent in the second, the central bank said, the first time it has released the country's growth figures this year.

China's manufacturing activity contracted in December, HSBC's closely watched purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed Wednesday, as the world's second-largest economy is buffeted by domestic headwinds.

The British banking giant's final PMI for the month came in at 49.6, HSBC said in a statement, slightly up from a preliminary reading of 49.5 but still the lowest in seven months.

Ukraine's central bank chief said on Tuesday that the strife-torn country's economy contracted by 7.5 percent in 2014 while inflation soared in a year more painful than any since World War II.

But Valeria Gontareva said the pro-Western leaders who rose to power in Kiev after the February ouster of an unpopular Moscow-backed president were optimistic about the chances of a rebound in 2015.

Loans to the private sector in the euro area, a gauge of economic health, fell year-on-year in November, but by slightly less than in October, the European Central Bank said Tuesday.

The volume of loans to private businesses and households declined by 0.9 percent in November compared with the same month in 2013, a slightly lower rate than the drop of 1.1 percent recorded in October, the ECB said in a statement.

South Korea's current account surplus rose to a monthly record in November as slumping oil prices slashed the value of imports, state data showed Tuesday.

The preliminary figure of $11.4 billion shattered the previous monthly record of $11.1 billion set in October 2013, according to data from the central Bank of Korea.

Asian markets slipped Tuesday following the previous day's healthy gains, while the euro struggled against the dollar as Greece plunged back into crisis, rekindling fears of a possible exit from the eurozone.

With investors winding down for the end of the year, Wall Street provided a mixed lead, although the S&P 500 topped out at a new record high.

Oil prices traded near five-year lows in thin year-end trade Tuesday, as analysts predicted further bearishness in the market owing to rising U.S. production despite a global supply glut.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell 49 cents to $53.12 while Brent crude for February lost 55 cents to $57.33 in afternoon trade.