Bloomberg Some of Australia’s biggest banks will extend the deferral of loan repayments for up to four months as the nation scrambles to contain the threat of a second wave of coronavirus infections. Customers who can resume paying their loans will be required to do so at the end of their six-month deferral period, the Australian Banking Association (ABA) said …

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s central bank lowered borrowing costs for a fifth time this year to support the economy amid the coronavirus crisis. The central bank of Sri Lanka cut the standing lending facility rate by 100 basis points to 5.5%, according to a statement. Two of the five economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the move, while all expected a cut. …

Bloomberg Nigeria’s central bank devalued the naira by 5.5% against the dollar as authorities in Africa’s biggest oil producer migrate toward a single exchange-rate system for the local currency. The official rate to the greenback was pegged at 381 naira from 360, according to data on the website of FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, the Lagos-based platform that oversees foreign-exchange trading. …

Bloomberg Yes Bank Ltd., the Indian lender that was rescued this year after being inundated with bad loans, plans to raise as much as $2 billion in a public offering to shore up capital. The share offering will be from July 15 to 17, according to a stock exchange filing on Thursday. The Mumbai-based bank had earlier planned to raise …

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s biggest bank plans to buy several smaller lenders in a consolidation drive to leave the troubled southern African nation with fewer, stronger institutions, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. CBZ Holdings Ltd., majority-owned by the government, is in talks with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe over the acquisitions, the people said, asking not to …

Bloomberg European stocks snapped a two-day losing streak as investors kept faith with economic support policies, helped by some reassuring earnings news. The dollar fluctuated alongside US equity futures. Shares in Europe’s largest technology company, SAP SE, rose 7% after it reported better-than-expected second quarter revenue on returning demand for software in Asia, boosting hopes for a deeper recovery. It …

Bloomberg As Malaysia’s benchmark stock index inches closer to erasing its loss for the year, one corner of the market has raced ahead: technology shares. The Bursa Malaysia Technology Index of 38 stocks has soared 95% from a March low to reach the highest level since 2004, led by manufacturers ViTrox Corp. and UWC Bhd. The main FTSE Bursa Malaysia …

Bloomberg Flows into Indian stock funds slumped in June as investors pocketed gains from a strong rebound in equities as the pandemic showed no signs of slowing in Asia’s third-largest economy. Equity plans got 2.4 billion rupees ($32 million), according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. That’s down 95% from 52.6 billion rupees received in May, …

Bloomberg Oil was anchored below $41 a barrel with an industry report signalling a surprise gain in US crude stockpiles, while concerns linger about the threat to demand from rising coronavirus infections. The American Petroleum Institute reported inventories rose by 2.05 million barrels last week, before government data on Wednesday. The virus is setting records across the US, with Texas’s …

Bloomberg Poor diets in developing countries are costing businesses as much as $850 billion a year in lost productivity, underlining the need for companies to play a bigger role in tackling a problem that’s being compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Those are the findings of a study by Chatham House and Vivid Economics, the first to analyse the impact of …