Headlines

Latam Airlines Group SA is tapping global debt markets for the first time since the carrier emerged from its chapter 11 bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The Santiago-based airline is selling $1.2 billion in dollar notes maturing in 2030. Initial price talks are taking place at a yield in the low-to-mid 8% range. Latam, the largest carrier in South America, exited the chapter 11 process in late 2022 with 35% less debt, placing a renewed focus on customer service. It recently returned to the New York Stock Exchange, with an offering of American depositary shares.

Shares of Chinese property developers rallied most on record after Beijing joined its peers to ease rules for homebuyers, following the Asian nation’s call to stem the property market decline, Bloomberg News reported. A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese real estate stocks surged as much as 31% — a record — on Wednesday, following the Monday announcement that the nation’s capital will make it easier for non-residents to buy property in core areas and cut minimum down payment ratios. The index has risen 92% over the last five trading days.

The majority of banks in Belgium held up well in a recent stress test regarding the guarantee of customer deposits if they went bankrupt. However, six banks failed to provide sufficient information to the Federal Government. A recent test conducted by the State Guarantee Fund (managed by the Ministry of Finance) assessed whether 29 different banks in Belgium were able to meet legal requirements in the event of a bankruptcy. All credit institutions which hold deposits in Belgium were tested, including Argenta, Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, CBC, Crelan, ING and KBC.

Euro-area inflation slowed below the European Central Bank’s 2% target for the first time since 2021 — backing investor bets that interest rates may be lowered more quickly than previously anticipated, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 1.8% from a year ago in September, down from 2.2% in the previous month as energy costs fell sharply, Eurostat said Tuesday. The reading matched a Bloomberg survey of analysts — as was core inflation, which eased to 2.7%.

Financial markets remain vulnerable to a sharp correction, the Bank of England warned Wednesday as a twice-yearly survey found that geopolitical developments are seen as the greatest threat to stability, the Wall Street Journal reported. The BOE’s Financial Policy Committe has repeatedly warned that valuations of many financial assets, particularly equities, are “stretched” and could fall sharply in response to economic or geopolitical shocks.

France plans around €60 billion ($66.4 billion) in spending cuts and tax hikes next year as Prime Minister Michel Barnier seeks to claw back a widening budget deficit and bolster investor confidence in the country, Bloomberg News reported. The savings are required to bring the budget shortfall to 5% of economic output from around 6.1% this year, government officials said in a briefing to journalists on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with internal rules.

Poland extended its period of interest-rate stability to one year after inflation picked up beyond the central bank’s tolerance range, Bloomberg News reported. The Monetary Policy Council kept its benchmark at 5.75% in line with the forecasts of all 35 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The decision comes after regional peers in the Czech Republic and Hungary both reduced rates and the Federal Reserve eased its monetary policy for the first time in four years with a half-point rate reduction.

Executives in Latin America’s largest economy are redrawing plans, reprofiling debt and holding back investment as interest rates climb and the currency remains under pressure, Bloomberg News reported. While companies the world over have been contending with higher borrowing costs, Brazilian firms have had an especially tough burden, hit with some of the steepest rates in the world after surviving the pandemic with little government aid. Now rates are going up again after a respite of just over a year.

India’s securities regulator introduced a slew of steps to limit equity derivatives trading, attempting to shield retail investors whose appetite for the products fueled their rise in the nation, Bloomberg News reported. The measures from the Securities and Exchange Board of India erect hurdles for short-term speculative bets, such as limiting index option contracts with weekly expiries, according to the details on its website released Tuesday.

More than 700 Swedish companies went bankrupt in September, with real estate companies among the hardest hit, according to data from credit reference agency Creditsafe, Bloomberg News reported. The 17% increase from last year is a sharp turn for the worse, following a 3% annual decrease in August. Property owners had another rough month, as bankruptcies in the sector more than doubled. While hopes have increased about an economic recovery in Sweden as the central bank has reduced borrowing costs, an uptick in sentiment has yet to translate into rising activity.