Headlines

Venezuela’s opposition-run congress said on Tuesday it will form a commission that will eventually renegotiate the country’s debt, much of which is in default, and protect the OPEC nation’s offshore assets from seizure by creditors, Reuters reported. President Nicolas Maduro’s government has defaulted on most of roughly $60 billion in foreign bonds issued by Venezuela and state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, but has had minimal contact with creditors about addressing the situation. The measure follows U.S.

A legal bid to prevent British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suspending parliament to stop lawmakers blocking a no-deal Brexit will be heard at a Scottish court next month, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. A group of about 70 lawmakers from opposition parties are backing a bid to have Scotland's highest civil court rule that Johnson cannot ask Queen Elizabeth to prorogue, or suspend, parliament before Britain leaves the European Union on Oct. 31.

Investors are awaiting stimulus measures from the Indian government as a gloomy economic outlook adds to mounting credit market woes and raises fears defaults will spread, Bloomberg News reported. The government is planning measures to boost the economy and may announce some steps this week to help demand for housing, automobiles, and to spur small businesses, an official said on Friday. Credit profiles of the nation’s companies worsened to a 19-month low in July, according to a Care Ratings index that tracks 1,601 local firms.

Expectations for the German economy have slumped to their lowest level since the eurozone debt crisis eight years ago amid deepening concerns over the US-China trade dispute and the potential for a chaotic UK exit from the EU, the Financial Times reported. The Zew survey of financial market experts revealed on Tuesday that economic sentiment in August had dropped to minus 44.1, its lowest since December 2011 and much gloomier than estimates from analysts in a Reuters poll who had predicted it to be minus 28.5. The index had come in at minus 24.5 in July.

Japan’s Topix index slumped, wiping out this year’s advance, after the yen climbed to its highest since March last year on global trade concerns and political uncertainty, Bloomberg News reported. The benchmark measure fell 1.2% Tuesday, resuming trade after a three-day weekend. It is down 0.5% year-to-date and one of the worst performers among the 24 developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. The yen maintained gains after rising 1.1% against the dollar over the past four sessions and is trading around 105.28 to the dollar.

Once again, European banks tried hard in the latest earnings season, but ultimately failed to boost sentiment, Bloomberg News reported. Expectations were low and hence several lenders were able to post a beat, yet many banks warned of a challenging outlook as yields in Europe hit all-time lows. Citigroup notes that seven out of nine regional markets under their coverage were able to surpass estimates, with the strongest positive surprises from Spanish and Swiss lenders.

Steinhoff International, the global retailer that is battling to overcome the legacy of South Africa’s biggest accounting scandal, has pledged to slim its business and sell assets in order to survive heavy debts and shareholder lawsuits, the Financial Times reported. The owner of store chains including the UK’s Poundland and Conforama in France is considering the sales as it tackles “too high” debts of $10bn that were left by its 2017 collapse, Louis du Preez, Steinhoff’s chief executive, said on Tuesday.

Argentina’s currency tumbled for a second day as investors remained nervous about the country’s political future and the potential return of populist policies following Mauricio Macri’s decisive loss in a presidential primary vote over the weekend, the Financial Times reported. The peso slid as much as 10 per cent, before paring some of its losses, to end the day at 55.65 pesos to the dollar. Tuesday’s drop comes after the country’s currency shed more than a fifth of its value at one point during hectic trading in the previous session.

European insurers are snapping up more emerging-market debt, spurred on by worries that negative-yielding bonds in Europe might not offer enough returns to meet their future payments, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The move represents a shift for investors, who have usually filled much of their portfolios with high-grade bonds issued by developed-market governments and companies. An estimated 250 billion euros, or around 5% of European insurers' assets, are invested in fixed income, up from 2% to 3% five years ago, said people at several insurers.

An oil discovery in Republic of Congo could produce nearly 1 million barrels of oil per day, a company involved said on Monday, possibly quadrupling the nation’s output and propelling it into the same league as Africa’s largest producers, Reuters reported. Congo’s cash-strapped energy industry has been boosted by major recent finds from Italy’s ENI and France’s Total , lifting an economy hobbled by debt, civil unrest and corruption, and raising output to about 350,000 barrels per day.