:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.
:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with Maryam and the
:00:00. > :00:20.With a new trade deal with the EU coming into effect tomorrow,
:00:21. > :00:23.Ukraine is turning its back on its old partner Russia.
:00:24. > :00:38.But are the Russians taking it sitting down?
:00:39. > :00:41.We'll take a closer look at the art market, where there are
:00:42. > :00:45.signs that the rich may not be as willing to splash out on a bit of
:00:46. > :00:51.Welcome to World Business Report, I'm Maryam Moshiri.
:00:52. > :00:53.In a minute, Mariko in Singapore will take a look back
:00:54. > :00:59.But first: On January 1st a free trade deal comes into effect between
:01:00. > :01:04.Ukraine is ready to pay the price for a trade deal with the
:01:05. > :01:06.European Union, President Petro Poroshenko has said after Moscow
:01:07. > :01:14.moved to restrict its trade ties with Kiev over the accord.
:01:15. > :01:17.Controversy over the trade deal was the initial trigger of unrest
:01:18. > :01:19.in Kiev that culminated in the ousting of a Moscow-allied
:01:20. > :01:23.Russia then annexed Crimea and backed a separatist revolt
:01:24. > :01:25.in eastern Ukraine, in moves that led to Moscow's worst
:01:26. > :01:46.At this juice factory, business is on track for a boost. Come January
:01:47. > :01:55.one, the company and Ukraine will have unfettered access to the new
:01:56. > :01:59.market. If all goes to plan, this juice will satisfy more and more
:02:00. > :02:04.Europeans. Russia says it economy will suffer from the deal. The
:02:05. > :02:13.Kremlin will slap restrictions on Ukrainian goods in the new year. It
:02:14. > :02:18.says that the trade zone will help lessen the pain. Russia is a
:02:19. > :02:26.sufficiently large part of our exports. But we hope to make it
:02:27. > :02:32.bigger. The trade zone cannot come at a more critical time. Ukraine's
:02:33. > :02:35.economy is in deep recession. You can's economic problems actually
:02:36. > :02:41.help the club right now. This juice is relatively cheap to produce, and
:02:42. > :02:48.less expensive than its European rivals. When the markets open up,
:02:49. > :02:54.Ukrainian businesses are going to face a number of challenges --
:02:55. > :03:00.Vitmark. The trade is to weigh. European goods are free to enter
:03:01. > :03:05.Ukraine, and companies must now adapt to European standards, which
:03:06. > :03:09.cost time and money -- two-way. Competition won't be so stiff in the
:03:10. > :03:20.juice business, but it will be in technology and heavy industry. You
:03:21. > :03:27.get the element of, pretty much like those exporters are not in a
:03:28. > :03:32.position to remodel themselves to more sophisticated markets. The free
:03:33. > :03:41.trade zone is more than a decade in the making. If it feels the European
:03:42. > :03:44.dreams of many Ukrainians. Two years ago, they took to the streets to
:03:45. > :03:51.protest its cancellation and drove the then president from power. It
:03:52. > :03:52.remains to be seen if their expectations of a bright European
:03:53. > :03:57.future will be realised. On this the last day of the year,
:03:58. > :04:01.it's traditional to look back Mariko Oi is in our
:04:02. > :04:18.Asia Business Hub in Singapore Let's start with a good one.
:04:19. > :04:25.Japan's shares have had a fairly good year. We finished trading
:04:26. > :04:33.yesterday, ending the year higher. More than 9%, and above the 19,000
:04:34. > :04:40.level for the first time in two decades. Shinzo Abe said that
:04:41. > :04:46.economic policies have been working in terms of boosting stock prices.
:04:47. > :04:52.South Korea also ended the year on a high, but only by two and a half %.
:04:53. > :04:57.Australia has had quite a tough year with shares, which ended lower today
:04:58. > :05:03.and down by about 2% of the year. That is mainly because of commodity
:05:04. > :05:09.shares, the mining boom which came to an end because of the slowing
:05:10. > :05:15.growth in China which was the biggest importer. Chinese shares
:05:16. > :05:19.have had an extremely volatile year. We still have a few more hours of
:05:20. > :05:27.trading in Shanghai, they are down slightly today it got up near 10%.
:05:28. > :05:31.And till June, they were up by 150% by losing almost a third of their
:05:32. > :05:39.value in three weeks. The government intervened fairly quickly and shares
:05:40. > :05:46.have recovered by about 25%. Hong Kong shares have been affected by
:05:47. > :05:55.that volatility in China. They seem to be ending the year down by more
:05:56. > :06:01.than 7%. Looking forward to 2016, what kind of sentiment you think
:06:02. > :06:05.investors have within the markets in Asia looking forward to the new
:06:06. > :06:12.year? I think that the interest rate hike in the US, which many people
:06:13. > :06:18.here in Asia have been anticipating for a long time, I think a lot of
:06:19. > :06:24.people will be watching what the Federal bank will do next. The
:06:25. > :06:30.gradual pace that the chair has been talking about, it is being monitored
:06:31. > :06:36.very carefully and how that would affect shares and currencies in
:06:37. > :06:47.Asia. That will be closely monitored. What are your plans for
:06:48. > :06:50.New Year's Eve? Where I come from, we tend to watch a singing
:06:51. > :06:54.competition between male and female singers in Japan. I plan to watch
:06:55. > :06:59.that with my parents who are visiting Singapore tonight. My
:07:00. > :07:04.biggest challenge may be not to fall asleep. Thank you very much.
:07:05. > :07:06.The art market has made headlines this year,
:07:07. > :07:11.So does that mean the art market is back to
:07:12. > :07:14.the boom times of the 2000's, before the global financial crisis?
:07:15. > :07:15.Well, despite these headline grabbing
:07:16. > :07:18.sales, it seems the rich are having second thoughts about splashing
:07:19. > :07:33.their cash around the auction rooms, as Jeremy Howell reports.
:07:34. > :07:46.A December evening at this auction house in London, an auction of
:07:47. > :07:50.famous painters. Most works sold at the lower end of the estimated price
:07:51. > :07:57.range. It is a subdued and to the year. Markets flew higher last week.
:07:58. > :08:03.This painting sold three record-breaking $178 million. This
:08:04. > :08:11.painting sold for $170 million. These aside, the appetite for
:08:12. > :08:17.purchasing at may be waning. China has seen a slowdown in economic
:08:18. > :08:22.growth. At the top of the market, billionaires who are keen to get a
:08:23. > :08:26.great work by a famous artist like the Kiso, there is still a lot of
:08:27. > :08:31.competition. Once you go under that, where we are talking about millions
:08:32. > :08:37.of dollars, people are feeling more squeezed. There is less confidence.
:08:38. > :08:43.Russians are feeling much poorer. People in general are feeling
:08:44. > :08:48.poorer, and that has had an impact. The demand for works by contemporary
:08:49. > :08:58.artists, which had been booming, are now starting to subside. People have
:08:59. > :09:01.been advised by curators of an upcoming artist. They take the word
:09:02. > :09:09.that upcoming means growing in value. What they stop believing in
:09:10. > :09:17.that, they follow their hearts. It is easier to see virtually in an old
:09:18. > :09:23.master. You would think those were a more solid investment. As the most
:09:24. > :09:28.rich veer away from investing in contemporary art, old Masters become
:09:29. > :09:36.a mainstay of the market. In other news: Troubling times
:09:37. > :09:39.for Puerto Rico, the country will default on about $37 million
:09:40. > :09:42.in bond payments due Jan. 1, escalating a conflict with
:09:43. > :09:46.investors as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla seeks to
:09:47. > :09:54.restructure a massive debt burden. The amount is just a fraction
:09:55. > :09:58.of the almost $1 billion in interest Garcia Padilla has warned
:09:59. > :10:02.for weeks that if forced to choose between paying creditors
:10:03. > :10:04.and paying for essential services, The Brazilian currency, the real,
:10:05. > :10:08.has weakened again in trading It fell on Wednesday
:10:09. > :10:21.by nearly 2% against the US dollar. So far this year the Brazilian
:10:22. > :10:24.currency has dropped in value by almost 33%, the weakest
:10:25. > :10:27.performance of any of the world's Shares of
:10:28. > :10:30.Weight Watchers International have piled on the dollars, up 27 percent
:10:31. > :10:47.over the past two days after Oprah Winfrey debuted a campaign
:10:48. > :10:49.endorsing the weight-loss program. The celebrity
:10:50. > :10:52.and media mogul posted a video to her Twitter account about using
:10:53. > :10:54.Weight Watchers to lose weight. Winfrey announced her partnership
:10:55. > :10:56.with Weight Watchers in October, saying she would buy 10 percent
:10:57. > :10:59.of the stock and join the board. Asian stock markets were mixed
:11:00. > :11:02.in thin trading Thursday after the latest decline in oil
:11:03. > :11:05.prices pulled Wall Street lower. Markets in Japan and South Korea
:11:06. > :11:08.were closed for the New Year Losses in energy stocks weighed
:11:09. > :11:16.on Wall Street on Wednesday and Oil prices look like they are ending the
:11:17. > :11:19.year how they began, under pressure. Brent crude skid toward 11-year lows
:11:20. > :11:22.after an unusual build in US stockpiles and signs Saudi Arabia
:11:23. > :11:24.will keep adding to More from me throughout the day, but
:11:25. > :11:39.for now, goodbye. Here in Britain, a couple who
:11:40. > :11:42.plotted a terror attack in London Mohammed Rehman and his wife Sana
:11:43. > :11:46.Ahmed Khan, both in their 20s, were convicted of preparing terrorist
:11:47. > :11:50.acts, and will serve a combined