Emerging-market stocks and currencies are within touching distance of erasing their pandemic-fueled losses of 2020, Bloomberg News reported. Too bad the virus is still running riot, economies are shrinking and central banks are getting low on firepower. In fact, the backdrop is so grim that investors may soon start to take the view that prices are starting to defy gravity. After falling more than 30% by March, developing-nation stocks as measured by MSCI Inc.’s benchmark index are just 3% below the level at which they started the year.

Religare Finvest, which is the NBFC arm of embattled financial services conglomerate Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), is hopeful of completing its debt restructuring by December this year, The Hindu Business Line reported. “We don’t expect the final restructuring plan to go beyond the third quarter of the year, maybe even earlier than December,” said Nitin Aggarwal, Group CFO, Religare Enterprises Ltd and CEO, Religare Broking, adding that once it is through, the company will be much different.

An independent survey commissioned by insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland has found that of the 1,000 business owners and directors surveyed, 51 per cent said they were expecting to explore restructuring or insolvency options in the next six months, Accountants Daily reported. The prospect of JobKeeper coming to an end was far from their primary concern, with just one in 10 worried about the phase-out of the wage subsidy scheme. Instead, cash-flow concerns continue to keep business owners up at night, with 36 per cent nominating it as their stressor.

High-grade eurozone government debt yields dropped to their lowest levels in over two months as a cocktail of negative news sent investors scrambling for safe assets, Reuters reported. Poor corporate earnings, record deaths from COVID-19 in six U.S. states and frictions over a stimulus plan in the United States hit risk sentiment on Wednesday, and had investors retreating to safe assets such as government bonds. Fears of rising COVID-19 infections also hit Asia and Europe this week, with several countries imposing new restrictions and Britain quarantining travellers from Spain.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya said the central bank will not rule out deepening negative interest rates as part of efforts to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. But he said the BOJ must be vigilant to the cost of any such steps, warning that excessively low rates could hurt financial institutions’ profits and discourage them from lending. “When considering additional easing steps, we must be mindful than ever before of their potential side-effects,” Amamiya told a news conference on Wednesday.

The family that owns beleaguered Singaporean oil trader Hin Leong Trading (HLT) is seeking to block a request from creditor OCBC that overseers be appointed for Xihe Holdings and four of the family’s other subsidiaries to recoup its debt, Reuters reported. Oversea Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) applied last week for the Singapore High Court to appoint judicial managers over Xihe, owned by the family of Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin, known as O.K. Lim.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co is looking to cut sales jobs in Japan in its latest restructuring effort, as it overhauls domestic business following its $59 billion purchase (45.67 billion pounds) of Shire Plc, sources familiar with the company’s plans said, Reuters reported. Major pharma companies in Japan have scaled down their sales forces to cope with a shrinking market and cuts in drug prices imposed by the national health system.

The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought the Centre’s reply on a plea challenging the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Ordinance which suspended proceedings against defaults arising on or after March 25 for six months in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hindu reported. A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the Ministry of Law and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) seeking their stand by August 31 on the plea, which seeks setting aside of the amendment made in the IBC by the ordinance.

Nissan Motor Co warned of a record $4.5 billion (3.49 billion pounds) operating loss this year and its lowest sales in a decade as the COVID-19 pandemic hampers its turnaround efforts, Reuters reported. Japan’s No.2 carmaker is battling to recover from a rapid expansion that has left it with dismal margins and an ageing portfolio, as well as revive its alliance with Renault that was rocked by the arrest of long-time boss Carlos Ghosn.

BDO Unibank Inc., the Philippines’ largest lender by assets, posted its first loss in more than a decade after bolstering provisions for bad loans due to the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The bank said its net loss totaled 4.48 billion pesos ($91 million) in the three months ended June, compared with profit of 10.4 billion pesos a year earlier. It booked provisions of 22.4 billion pesos in the first half, in anticipation of potential delinquencies stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.