Headlines

The share of foreign investors in Brazilian public debt fell in August to the lowest level in more than 12 years, official data showed on Wednesday, despite high yields on government bonds, Reuters reported. According to the Treasury, the share of foreigners in domestic public debt fell to 8.84% in August, from 9.01% in July, the lowest level since December 2009. This occurred despite high yields in government bonds amid an aggressive monetary tightening to battle inflation in Latin America's largest economy.

Canara Bank has filed a fresh insolvency petition against Hyderabad-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company Gayatri Projects, increasing pressure on the debt-laden borrower that owes lenders more than ₹6,000 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. A failed restructuring plan first initiated in 2015 and subsequent default have marked the account as a non- performing asset in the books of banks.

India's central bank is unlikely to extend a Friday deadline for businesses to set up an additional layer of security for consumers' credit card data even after some concerns remain over payments failing and revenue losses, say bankers and merchants, Reuters reported. Despite a demand by smaller merchants to delay the compliance date, there has been no indication so far by the central bank that there is likely to be an extension in deadline, three banking and merchant sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Prime Minister Liz Truss looked to reassure the British public and rattled investors that her plan to cut taxes wouldn’t lead to prolonged financial instability, arguing in a series of interviews on Thursday that the country had been buffeted by global shocks rather than her government’s reforms and that her policies would result in faster growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. “We had to take decisive action,” Ms. Truss told the British Broadcasting Corp. in her first public comments since the tax plan was presented last Friday.

China's central bank has asked major state-owned banks to be prepared to sell dollars for the local unit in offshore markets as it steps up efforts to stem the yuan's descent, Reuters reported. State banks were told to ask their offshore branches, including those based in Hong Kong, New York and London, to review their holdings of the offshore yuan and ensure U.S. dollar reserves are ready to be deployed.

European Central Bank policymakers see no need to step in and buy more Italian government bonds via a new emergency scheme despite a rise in the country's borrowing costs since a right-wing coalition won a general election, sources told Reuters. Analysts have been speculating about whether the ECB would activate its Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI) to stem a rise in Italian bond yields and spreads driven by concerns about public finances under a new government promising lower taxes.

The Bank of England on Wednesday said it would buy U.K. government bonds with long maturities “on whatever scale is necessary” in an effort to restore order to the market after a large set of government tax cuts sent borrowing costs soaring, the Wall Street Journal reported. The furious selloff in U.K. government debt in recent days ripped through normally staid parts of the financial markets. Pension funds and insurers who hold financial derivatives tied to U.K. debt in particular faced the possibility of severe losses, according to analysts.

The European Commission signed off Tuesday on the next 21-billion-euro ($20.2 billion) tranche of Italy’s pandemic recovery funds, a welcome infusion that comes amid questions about whether Giorgia Meloni and her euroskeptic party, which won the national election, will be able to keep the funding coming, the Associated Press reported.

Although investigations into the simultaneous leaks in Nord Stream pipelines are in their early stages, European leaders, NATO and E.U. officials on Wednesday are firmly pointing to sabotage as the cause for the blasts, the Washington Post reported. Danish and Swedish authorities detected underwater explosions Monday and reported three breaches on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, pouring tons of methane into the Baltic Sea. Seismologists in Denmark and Sweden said the two blasts they detected did not appear to be earthquakes, landslides or other natural activity.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Wednesday a new package of Russia sanctions, designed "to make the Kremlin pay" for escalating the conflict in Ukraine with what she called "sham" votes in occupied territory, Reuters reported. "We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation," she told reporters in Brussels.