Headlines

Greece’s exit from its bailout programme later this month is widely viewed as a big step forward in declaring an end to the crisis in the eurozone’s most troubled economy. But for the country’s banks, the end of the programme means it is about to become a little more difficult for them to secure cheap credit, the Financial Times reported. The reason? A quirk in the European Central Bank’s collateral policy that means from later this month Greek government bonds — along with other bonds guaranteed by Athens — will no longer be eligible for use in the bank’s auctions of cheap cash.

It was not so long ago that investors were speculating just when Chinese regulators would allow the first onshore bond to default, the Financial Times reported. Now, the authorities are rushing to provide liquidity relief to calm a surge in bond market failures. The government must act because the defaults represent collateral damage in its broader campaign to rein in excess borrowing in the financial system. Private companies have suffered most, exposing vulnerabilities in a sector that is largely responsible for creating jobs in the Chinese economy.

There’ll likely be no cake to celebrate the 10th birthday this month of Irish-Swiss baker Aryzta. It is probably looking to raise some dough. In the week following July 31st, the end of its financial year, about €200 million was wiped off its value, The Irish Times reported. Its shares, mainly traded in Zurich, plummeted by 23 per cent to 11.12 francs (€9.63). By the close of business on Thursday, it was worth less than €840 million against €1.1 billion nine days earlier. That’s roughly a quarter of what it was worth just five months ago.

Ireland’s Henderson family said on Thursday it had agreed to buy around 50 Poundworld stores, having struck a deal with the administrator of the collapsed British discount retailer, Reuters reported. The 335-store Poundworld went into administration in June after its majority owner, the private equity group TPG Capital, failed to find a buyer for the struggling business which had a total workforce of about 5,100. Administrator Deloitte said last month that all Poundworld stores would close by the middle of August.

Asian borrowers faced with rising refinancing needs are expected to actively engage bondholders ahead of debt maturities as they look to stave off default risks, Bloomberg News reported. That means getting investors to agree to discounted buybacks and maturity extensions, so-called liability management deals that can help firms cut funding costs. More issuers are in talks with their legal advisers to reassess their future financing arrangements and capital structures because of an uncertain primary market, according to law firm Linklaters LLP.

Hedge funds have found a new way to profit from the sorry state of Australia’s housing market: playing off how much poorer consumers feel as their home values decline, Bloomberg News reported. Managers including Totus Capital and Sydney’s Regal Funds Management are heaping bearish wagers on companies from JB Hi-Fi Ltd. to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd., betting discretionary retail stocks will wobble as the country’s decades-long property boom goes into reverse and people shop less.

The corruption scandal that broke in Argentina last week could be a political godsend for President Mauricio Macri -- and an economic nightmare for the country. A federal judge is probing hundreds of alleged bribes paid by construction companies, energy suppliers and electricity generators to members of the former government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Bloomberg News reported. While the accusations may derail Fernandez’s hopes of a comeback, aiding Macri, they could also halt investment in a country already threatened with recession after a collapse in the peso.

The ruble extended its steepest slide in almost two years as a fresh round of U.S. sanctions against Russia deepened concern about what could be targeted next, Bloomberg News reported. Investors who had been building long positions in the currency earlier in the summer rushed for the exit, causing a two-day plunge of as much as 5.1 percent. Analysts at Citibank said it looks like traders are already pricing in a worst-case scenario of sanctions on banks and new sovereign debt.

Chinese stocks haven’t been this volatile in years as traders struggle to decide whether the $6 trillion market has bottomed out, Bloomberg News reported. Buffeted by crosscurrents ranging from the trade war and rising defaults to monetary stimulus and cheapening valuations, the Shanghai Composite Index has recorded seven straight swings of 1 percent or more -- the longest such stretch since Chinese markets crashed in 2015.

The future of House of Fraser will be settled in the next 48 hours as at least four bidders tabled rescue proposals for the struggling UK department store group. Two people familiar with the situation confirmed that Philip Day, the Dubai-based entrepreneur and owner of Edinburgh Woollen Mill, had put forward a plan that would avoid House of Fraser going into administration first, the Financial Times reported. Representatives for Mr Day declined to comment.