Russia's rouble was propped up by strong oil prices on Monday, while emerging market stocks traded close to record highs on optimism over a global economic recovery, enabled by steady vaccine rollouts.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars treaded water on Monday as positive market sentiment was blunted by disappointing reports about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against new strains of the virus.
Austria, one of the "frugal four" seeking changes to the European Union's planned coronavirus recovery fund, wants a bigger share of that aid to go to the bloc's poorest countries, its leader said in remarks published on Saturday.
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MADRID, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Spain’s government aims to outline in the coming weeks a set of measures to bolster corporate solvency, possibly including haircuts on state-backed loans as well as direct state aid to help smaller firms weather the COVID-19 pandemic, sources said.
“We have to build a bridge to sustain the economy until the vaccination plan is completed and the arrival of the European funds,” said a government source present at the discussions.
Treasury head Pablo de Ramón-Laca also told state broadcaster RTVE on Monday the state was working on transforming part of the state-backed credit, known as ICO loans, extended so far into an as yet unspecified type of solvency support.
Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said on Monday it would consult members on whether it should back a government led by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, increasing the uncertainty over the make-up of his coalition.