Shares of Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras plunged nearly 15 per cent in early trade on Thursday after the company’s overnight announcement of a surprise diesel price cut to pacify striking truckers, the Financial Times reported. The Brazilian bellwether stock was down 13.71 per cent at R$20.08 per share just before midday, dragging the benchmark Ibovespa index 1.81 per cent lower to 79,402.02 points.

For Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the easy part was winning a presidential race where the main opposition candidates were barred, their supporters boycotted the vote, and his government controlled every aspect of the contest, including counting votes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Now comes the hard part: Trying to pull his country out of the worst economic crisis in its history as it faces growing isolation from the international community. Mr.

The International Monetary Fund moved on Friday to formally begin negotiations on a bailout of Argentina, without any objection from the Trump administration, The Wall Street Journal reported. The crisis in Argentina has prompted the U.S. to once again embrace the type of multilateral and global institutions that have often come under heavy criticism from the Trump White House. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde presented the program Friday in Washington to the IMF’s executive board, where the U.S.

Bond fund managers often scoff at the big racy bets of equity investors, preferring the sweet sensation of a steady, diversified stream of coupon payments being made on time, the Financial Times reported. Michael Hasenstab is not like most bond investors.

A U.S. bankruptcy court is set to hear a dispute involving Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA and major shareholder Bratel Brasil SA, Bratel said on Wednesday, as investor discontent with Oi’s bankruptcy reorganization process shows no signs of abating, Reuters reported. On Friday, Bratel, a subsidiary of Portugal’s Pharol SGPS SA, which owns almost 28 percent of Oi’s common shares, said it had filed a legal complaint in the United States.

The pressure on the Argentine peso showed no sign of letting up on Friday, with the currency sinking to a new low even after the country bit the bullet and turned to the IMF for help in stabilising the economy, the Financial Times reported. The peso slumped 5.4 per cent to 24.00 in early trade, according to Thomson Reuters data. The country’s benchmark Merval stock market snapped a two-day winning streak to trade 2.8 per cent lower, while the country’s century bond slipped again to trade at just a little over 87 cents on the dollar.

A year ago, Argentina was the darling of global investors. So much so that, when it issued a pioneering 100-year bond, with a yield of just 7.9 per cent, investors gobbled it up — ignoring the fact that the country has defaulted eight times in the past 200 years, the Financial Times reported. Whoops! This week President Mauricio Macri asked the IMF for help, after the peso tumbled to record lows. And that century bond? After rising to 105 per cent of its face value late last year, it is now trading nearer to 85 per cent.

Argentina is seeking a “stand-by arrangement” with the International Monetary Fund, according to the government, signalling its willingness to sign up to one of the organisation’s traditional economic adjustment programmes — complete with potentially politically controversial conditions and oversight, the Financial Times reported. Nicolas Dujovne, Argentina’s Treasury minister, had an “introductory meeting” with the IMF’s Alejandro Werner on Wednesday to discuss how negotiations will proceed. Officials estimated they could take around six weeks.

Brazilian development bank BNDES is in talks with four companies interested in acquiring the operation of Viracopos airport, the bank’s chief executive officer said on Tuesday. Viracopos’ operator filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday and CEO Dyogo Oliveira said the bank will try to find a solution before the courts decide on the reorganization, Reuters reported. According to Oliveira, European and Asian companies are interested in operating the airport.

Count Argentina’s smaller companies among the victims of the three surprise interest-rate increases that are rippling through the economy, according to Federico Mac Dougall of First Corporate Finance Advisors SA, Bloomberg News reported. Mac Dougall, the Buenos Aires-based firm’s head of restructuring, said the number of distressed companies seeking his advice has tripled this year, pushing it to levels he hasn’t seen since 2003 following Argentina’s sovereign default.