Headlines

China Vanke Co.’s sales slump extended in July, adding to liquidity pressure at the developer that’s become the latest focal point of the nation’s property crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Contracted sales for the month slumped 13% from a year earlier to 19.2 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), following a 29.3% slide in June, corporate filings show. The total was 24% lower on month. The protracted sales slump is escalating investor concern over its liquidity.

Yorkshire-based developer Harworth has filed a winding-up petition against modular firm TopHat, HousingToday.uk reported. A petition was filed at the High Court on 15 July by Harworth Estates Residential Development Limited against TopHat Enterprises Ltd. The case will be heard at the business and property courts in Leeds on 13 August, with Harworth claiming it is a creditor of TopHat. A winding up petition is a legal action that can be taken by a creditor against a company that owes it £750 or more.

Banks are expected to take more enforcement actions on distressed buildings amid Hong Kong’s property market downturn, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Bloomberg News reported. That’s based on the estimate of the firm’s partner Christopher So, whose team oversees a portfolio of real estate under receivership valued at more than HK$10 billion ($1.28 billion). “Lenders tend to give borrowers some breathing space at the beginning.

A week after Japan’s top central banker shook up global markets with comments about raising interest rates, one of his deputies walked them back Wednesday and promised not to raise rates when markets are unstable, the Wall Street Journal reported. The pledge by Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida led to a sharp recovery in Tokyo stock prices and a fall in the yen. That moved markets closer to where they were before the July 31 news conference by Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in which he suggested he wanted to keep raising rates despite lackluster consumer spending in Japan.

Kenya’s central bank surprised financial markets by cutting its benchmark interest rate for the first time since early 2020, providing some respite to consumers who have become increasingly frustrated by the high cost of living, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee lowered the key rate to 12.75% from 13%, Governor Kamau Thugge said in an emailed statement Tuesday. Only one of nine economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the move. Yields on government bonds due 2031 eased 4 basis points to 11.55% by 6:51 pm in Nairobi, the first drop after three consecutive days of gains.

A battle between China’s central bank and government-bond buyers is intensifying, as traders keep snapping up the debt despite growing evidence of official displeasure, Bloomberg News reported. On one side is the People’s Bank of China, which skipped offering lenders short-term cash for the first time since 2020 on Wednesday — a sign it was seeking to limit leveraged buying of government debt.

China’s trade figures for July were a mixed bag, with exports slowing unexpectedly but imports growing at a faster-than-expected clip, signaling some improvement in domestic demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Outbound shipments rose 7.0% from a year earlier in July, down from June’s 8.6% increase, said the General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. That was below the 9.4% growth expected by economists in a Wall Street Journal survey, but analysts say the outlook for exports still appears bright.

The microfinance sector in India has clamoured for easy credit rating rules from banks for the micro lenders with less than Rs 500 crore portfolio so that these entities get adequate doses of bank loans to grow their businesses, the Economic Times of India reported. The small and medium sized micro lenders are gasping for bank loans as they don't get bank loans as easily as their bigger counterparts with minimum Rs 1000 crore portfolio, even as the sector grew by nearly 25% in FY24 to a cumulative portfolio of Rs 4.3 lakh crore.

Credit default swaps tied to the UK’s largest pub operator have plunged in value as investors fear the company’s recent debt refinancing has left the contracts worthless, meaning bondholders have no way to hedge, Bloomberg News reported. The contracts have fallen in value since Stonegate Pubs — owner of the Slug & Lettuce and Be At One chains — closed on a refinancing last week, selling more than £2 billion ($2.54 billion) of bonds at double-digit yields.