Headlines

Britain’s housing market has taken a post-referendum nosedive with a sharp drop in purchase inquiries at estate agents, a reduction in sales agreed and expectations of falling prices. In its latest survey of estate agents and surveyors, conducted after the June 23 vote to leave the EU, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found a “marked drop in activity in the housing market”, the Financial Times reported. The monthly survey is a leading and closely watched indicator of house prices and economic activity related to moving home.

After weeks of fasting, affluent Saudis typically spend, feast and travel as they celebrate Eid to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Families gather in gleaming malls from Riyadh to Jeddah, picking up bargains and eating at restaurants. But this year, the celebrations took place in a distinctly more frugal climate, one clouded by fragile consumer confidence and a stuttering economy as Saudi Arabia reels from the plunge in oil prices and the impact of government austerity measures.

As the political chaos after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union starts to subside, one of the most pressing issues for the country’s new leader is how to keep doing business with the bloc’s vast single market of 500 million consumers. Many are pointing to fjord-flecked Norway as a possible model for the way forward, the International New York Times reported. Theresa May, who became Britain’s new prime minister on Wednesday, has said she wants to get the best deal possible to safeguard the country’s industrial base and its services industry.

When it comes to bond yields in Europe, it seems there is no such thing as too low. Germany on Wednesday became the first country in the eurozone to sell 10-year debt with a negative yield at an auction, effectively ensuring that investors lose money over the life of the bond, the International New York Times reported. It is the latest twist in the upside-down world of bonds, in which global investors are increasingly willing to pay governments for the privilege of holding their debt.

The slowdown in world trade has been much worse than previously reported, with global trade volumes plateauing over the past 18 months amid a rise in protectionism, according to a new report, the Financial Times reported. The analysis illustrates why business leaders such as GE’s Jeff Immelt are anxious about trade and the world economy as politicians such as US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rail against “globalism” and promise to erect new barriers to commerce. Policymakers and economists have grown increasingly concerned about a slowdown in global trade growth.

A debt-ridden independent oil explorer has pulled its shares from London’s junior AIM market after restructuring talks with its lender fell apart, The Telegraph reported. Trinidad-focused Trinity Exploration suspended its shares this morning after Citibank called in repayments on its $13m debt pile. The bank had offered the embattled explorer numerous waivers while negotiating a wider financial restructuring of the business, but has now scrapped the repayment moratorium and frozen the explorer’s accounts.

Carlyle Group LP, the world's No. 2 private-equity manager, is in talks to sell its stake in Brazilian lingerie maker Scalina SA, following a series of setbacks that led to a debt restructuring, three sources with direct knowledge of the situation said, Reuters reported.

Angela Merkel dismissed concerns of an escalating crisis surrounding Italian banks and expressed confidence that talks between Rome and Brussels allowing a rescue of struggling financial institutions could be “resolved well”, giving a boost to Italian banking shares, the Financial Times reported.

The home to about 3 million people in the northeast rust-belt province of Liaoning is ground zero in China’s slowdown -- the worst-performing city in the worst-performing province, Bloomberg News reported.. Ads offering work visas abroad are peppered across hoardings, and billboards offer loans for people in "urgent need." Shuttered car-parts factories flank the highway to the high-speed train station. In the center, a closed wedding-photograph studio has a notice in the window that reads: "Owner is going overseas.

Just under €180 million was spent in costs on the liquidation of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation from February 2013 up to the end of last year, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed, the Irish Times reported. The Minister told Mr Doherty it was not possible to quantify the final costs of the liquidation at this time due to the amount of work that remains outstanding.