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Index provider MSCI decided it was time to include A-shares in its emerging markets index, making the announcement just before 5am Hong Kong time on June 21. Chinese onshore stocks will make up 0.73% of the MSCI Emerging Markets index starting May 2018.

China’s FX reserves rise for the fourth consecutive month in May, a Chinese securities regulator says the country will start allowing foreign investors to trade commodities futures onshore, and Ford Motor’s onshore financial arm issues RMB-denominated bonds.

Venezuela and state oil and gas firm PDVSA bonds tumbled this week as the government missed a payment on a loan to Russia, continued to seek new funds at what one analyst called “loan shark” rates, and was dealt a further blow as oil prices slumped.

Corporate bond issuers came zooming into the market on Wednesday to take advantage of the short window this week, but new issue premiums crept up in places as investors asked for a little more juice to help wash down the abundance of supply over the past month.

The People's Bank of China published the blueprint of the upcoming Bond Connect scheme on Wednesday, and has asked the public for feedback by June 7. The provisional rules shed light on themes including FX and hedging.

There was little understanding among market watchers to news that the Chinese central bank is planning to introduce a counter-cyclical component to the calculation of the daily fix of the onshore RMB (CNY). Analysts say the move contradicts earlier statements from the PBoC about giving markets more say in the exchange rate.

Corporate borrowers announced a spate of fresh bond mandates on Tuesday as the primary market continues apace, but investors have got one eye firmly on next week’s European Central Bank meeting.

Romania-focused Globalworth Real Estate Investment is due to meet investors for a potential euro denominated trade, in a period of narrow issuance windows due to a spate of public holidays.

Ratings agency Moody’s opined on the Middle East after market close on Friday, with the United Arab Emirates seeing a better outlook while Qatar’s creditworthiness took a hit. Qatar’s rating was cut from Aa2 to Aa3 with a stable outlook on the back of a weakening in the sovereign’s external debt to GDP levels and uncertainty around where growth will come from in the medium term.

Corruption accusations made overnight on Wednesday against Brazilian president Michel Temer threw EM bond markets into turmoil just as they had already suffered a torrid day on the back of a Donald Trump-provoked slump in global markets.

People’s Bank of China has given the green light to the Bond Connect scheme, which banks expect will launch in early July. However, investors using the CIBM Direct scheme will be shut out from the new link to China’s $9.4tr bond market, GlobalRMB has learned.

China has not given up its renminbi internationalisation (RMBi) plans, but the constraints of an under-developed financial system will put the brakes on that process until further reforms are implemented, Yin-Wong Cheung, chair professor of international economics at City University of Hong Kong, told GlobalRMB.