Headlines

European savers are pulling more of their money from banks, looking for a better deal as lenders resist paying up to hold on to deposits some feel they can currently live without, Reuters reported. The trend emerged as some of the region's biggest lenders outlined a profitable start to the year in results that also offered a glimpse of a phenomenon dubbed a "bank walk" - a slow but notable outflow of customer cash.

China's factory activity unexpectedly contracted in April as orders fell and poor domestic demand dragged on the sprawling manufacturing sector, a private survey showed on Thursday, imperilling the broader economic outlook for the second quarter, Reuters reported. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in April from 50.0 in March. The 50-point index mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Brazil’s central bank held its interest rate steady for the sixth straight meeting, sticking with its tough inflation warnings and tweaking its language only slightly even as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calls for looser monetary policy, Bloomberg News reported. The bank’s board kept the Selic unchanged at 13.75% late on Wednesday as expected by almost all economists in a Bloomberg survey. In a statement, Copom, as the board is known, made a small concession by saying a new rate hike is less likely, softening language used since September.

Argentina is seeking new easing of targets in its $44 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund and faster payouts, and is pushing to get key IMF members the United States and Brazil to support it, Reuters reported. The country is expected to return to talks with the IMF on Thursday over amending the deal, which has come under strain amid a historic drought that has battered the country's key cash crops soy and corn, a senior economy ministry official said.

Nigeria’s debt burden is poised to jump 50% after lawmakers approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to convert 22.7 trillion naira ($49 billion) in loans from the central bank into bonds, Bloomberg News reported. The Senate’s acceptance is expected to push the West African nation’s official debt-to-gross domestic product ratio toward a 40% limit set by the government. “The advances were made to ensure that the government does not shut down,” according to a report by a special committee that the upper chamber of parliament endorsed on Wednesday.

Global labor markets are poised for a new era of turbulence as technologies like artificial intelligence accelerate the decline of clerical work, while simultaneously increasing demand for technology and cybersecurity specialists, Fortune reported. Over the next five years, nearly a quarter of all jobs will change as a result of AI, digitization and other economic developments like the green energy transition and supply chain re-shoring, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum in Geneva on Monday.

A European judicial team questioned on Thursday the brother of Lebanon’s embattled Central Bank governor who is is being investigated abroad over several financial crimes and the laundering of some $330 million, the Associated Press reported. The questioning is part of a probe by a delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg, which is now on its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in the case. The delegation questioned Gov.

U.S. asset manager Apollo Global Management Inc. plans to apply for approval from Swedish and Danish regulators to take a majority stake in SAS AB as part of the Scandinavian airline's rescue plan, Reuters reported. The news of interest from the U.S. asset manager sent the embattled carrier's shares up as much as 14% in Wednesday morning trading. At 1011 GMT, they were up 5.9%. SAS has lost almost 60% of its value since it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July, seeking to slash costs and debt after wage talks with pilots collapsed. A deal with the U.S.

Indian banks such as Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank are among the financial creditors whom Go First, which filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, owes Rs 6,521 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. According to the bankruptcy filing by Go First, banks such as Central Bank of India and Deutsche Bank are also among Go First's financial creditors. Central Bank of India's shares plunged over 5% in early trade on Wednesday, while Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and Axis Bank were down 2.5%, 1.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

The Canadian government is starting a month of consultations on how to better protect post-secondary institutions when they become insolvent, so they can avoid the same fate at Laurentian University, CBC.ca reported. In February 2021 the Sudbury, Ont. university filed for insolvency. Laurentian became the first public university to use the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to restructure after its financial troubles. Through that process, which has previously been used for corporate restructuring, Laurentian cut 69 programs, and nearly 200 staff and faculty members lost their jobs.