Headlines

New Zealand’s biggest bond rally in a year set the tone for moves across other debt markets Wednesday following declines in U.S. Treasury yields, Bloomberg News reported. Kiwi yields posted their biggest drop since the coronavirus wreaked havoc in March last year as traders curbed wagers for interest-rate hikes in the wake of government measures to cool housing prices. Bonds in Australia and emerging Asian economies also advanced while German bund futures signaled a firmer start.

India’s government is considering resuming fresh bankruptcy filings after the current suspension expires on March 25, the Economic Times of India reported. The lifting of the halt would come even as a resurgence in virus cases threatens the nascent economic recovery. It could spark a wave of new insolvencies, pent up from last year when businesses were hurt by India’s first economic contraction in decades. India’s government is considering resuming fresh bankruptcy filings after the current suspension expires on March 25.

When European Union leaders wrapped up 20 hours of talks to put the seal on a giant economic-aid package around dawn on Dec. 11, they didn’t head off to bed. They had one more topic that couldn’t wait: the damage done to corporate balance sheets, Bloomberg News reported. Starting at 8 a.m., the leaders summoned the EU’s top economic policymakers to brief them on the state of the euro-area economy and how to avert the next catastrophe they could already see coming down the track.

China's small regional banks are fast approaching a surge of nonperforming debt that threatens to undermine the financial health of the vulnerable lenders, Nikkei Asia reported. As part of the country's coronavirus stimulus package, the government allowed small to midsized enterprises to defer principal and interest payments on loans. The extensions were applied to 6.6 trillion yuan ($1 trillion) as of the end of December, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. will take over a Mumbai housing project from bankrupt Ariisto Developers Pvt. following a court decision on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The Bengaluru-based developer plans to launch the first phase of the project by May and second phase toward the end of the year, Prestige’s Chief Executive Officer Venkat K. Narayana said by phone on Wednesday. He estimates revenues of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) from the 7.5 million square feet under development. “This will be our largest project in Mumbai,” Narayana said.

Argentina is unable to repay its $45 billion debt with the International Monetary Fund, influential Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said Wednesday, diminishing the possibility of an agreement with the country’s largest creditor, Bloomberg News reported.

Bondholders filed suit in New York on Tuesday against Argentina's Buenos Aires province after talks broke down over restructuring $7.1 billion in provincial debt as the country’s leftist government seeks a larger accommodation with the International Monetary Fund to regain market access, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. GoldenTree Asset Management LP and other investment firms sought a judgment in the U.S. District Court in New York over the province’s failure to make debt payments stretching back to April of last year.

The City of London may be better off staying out of the EU’s financial services market as it would have to sacrifice autonomy over setting rules to win full access, a report by Britain’s upper house of parliament said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The European Union has yet to grant Britain direct financial market access after it left the bloc on Dec. 31 and large amounts of trading in stocks and derivatives denominated in euros has shifted to Amsterdam from London.

Ontario plans to sell more short-term debt in the year ahead to keep borrowing costs in check amid a spike in long-term yields, Bloomberg News reported. The Canadian province, which is the world’s largest sub-sovereign government borrower, plans to increase short-term debt by C$6 billion ($4.8 billion) in the fiscal year starting April 1. That’s six times its net issuance in the current fiscal year, according to budget documents released on Wednesday.

British tourists should go ahead and book foreign holidays despite government warnings not to, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said on Wednesday, as the low-cost carrier announced plans to run 80% of its peak summer capacity, Reuters reported. Vaccine rollouts will tame COVID-19 and reopen travel in time for beach holidays, O’Leary predicted during a news conference in which he also dismissed recent advice from UK ministers that foreign travel is likely to remain off-limits.