Headlines

China's central bank cut key lending rates in a surprise move on Monday to revive demand as data showed the economy unexpectedly slowing in July, with factory and retail activity squeezed by Beijing's zero-COVID policy and a property crisis, Reuters reported. The grim set of figures indicate the world's second largest economy is struggling to shake off the June quarter's hit to growth from strict COVID restrictions, prompting some economists to downgrade their projections.

Japan’s economy has begun to grow again as consumers, fatigued from more than two years of the pandemic, moved away from precautions that have kept coronavirus infections at among the lowest levels of any wealthy country, the New York Times reported. Lockdowns in China, soaring inflation and brutally high energy prices could not suppress Japan’s economic expansion as domestic consumption of goods and services shot up in the second three months of the year.

Several major Wall Street banks have begun offering to facilitate trades in Russian debt in recent days, according to bank documents seen by Reuters, giving investors another chance to dispose of assets widely seen in the West as toxic. Most U.S. and European banks had pulled back from the market in June after the Treasury Department banned U.S. investors from purchasing any Russian security as part of economic sanctions to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine, according to an investor who holds Russian securities and two banking sources.

The British economy contracted slightly in the second quarter, losing momentum as the country experiences a deepening cost-of-living crisis and economists predict that a recession will start later this year, the New York Times reported. Gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent in April to June compared with the previous quarter, when the economy grew 0.8 percent, the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday. The biggest drag on growth in the second quarter was a reduction in health services as pandemic measures, such as coronavirus testing and vaccine administering, declined.

A B.C. couple who manipulated stock at the expense of people’s retirement savings will still need to repay the defrauded investors, regardless of any possible future bankruptcy proceedings, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled, BIV.com reported. Thalbinder Singh Poonian and Shailu Poonian are permanently barred from working in the capital markets after a British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel ruled in 2014 they misappropriated roughly $7 million from investors for their own gain.

Scandinavian airline SAS said on Saturday it entered into an agreement with Apollo Global Management to raise $700 million of fresh financing it needs to see it through bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States in early July to help cut debt after the collapse of wage talks between the airline and its pilots, triggering a 15-day strike that added to travel chaos across Europe. SAS said in a statement it expects to complete the Chapter 11 restructuring process in nine to 12 months.

The world’s third largest economy recovered to its pre-pandemic size in the second quarter, as consumer spending picked up following the end of coronavirus curbs on businesses, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 2.2% in the second quarter of this year, coming in below the median estimate of 2.6%, Cabinet Office data showed Monday. That lifted the size of the economy to 542.1 trillion yen ($4.1 trillion), above what it was at the end of 2019. First quarter GDP was revised to an expansion from a prior contraction.

A joint venture between Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and electric vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto filed bankruptcy on Thursday, after the carmaker ended operations, the South China Morning Post reported. Beijing Judian Travel Technology Co. filed for bankruptcy on Thursday with Beijing No 1 Intermediate People’s Court, according to the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Information Disclosure Platform under the Supreme People’s Court. Set up in 2018 with registered capital of 400 million yuan (US$59.3 million), the company built EVs for Didi’s ride-hailing service.

Nasdaq-listed e-commerce luxury goods retailer Secoo has reportedly filed for bankruptcy with the First Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing Municipality – seven months after its last filing, according to Tianyancha, Inside Retail reported. According to LegalDaily, earlier this year Secoo filed for bankruptcy on the grounds it was unable to pay off its debts. The petition was subsequently withdrawn.