Bloomberg Most Asian economies will suffer their biggest blow from coronavirus containment measures in the second quarter of the year, even as the worst seems to have passed already for China, according to Morgan Stanley. Asia excluding Japan will see two consecutive quarters of contraction — the technical definition of a recession — as lockdowns and social-distancing norms are still …

Bloomberg Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina hinted at a bigger-than-normal interest-rate cut when the central bank meets next week, stressing that monetary easing is now the “main option.” “We are looking at different economic scenarios and weighing how much room we have to ease monetary policy and what size of steps we should take,” Nabiullina said in her final …

Bloomberg Brazilian banks are snapping up a renewed wave of local corporate bonds after a sell-off sent yields soaring and left funds reeling from record withdrawals. As local bond spreads rise more than four-fold in secondary market, investors say companies in need of cash are opting to sell new debt directly to banks, which often charge lower yields than institutional …