Evergrande has reportedly paid off $83.5 million worth of interest in dollar bonds ahead of deadline to avoid default

• China Evergrande has transferred funds to pay $83.5 million in bond interest payments ahead of a weekend deadline.
• It had already missed the payment on Sept. 23, but had a 30-day grace period before it's considered a default.

Embattled real estate giant China Evergrande has wired $83.5 million to pay the interest on an offshore dollar bond, reported state-owned Securities Times and Reuters news agency.

The transfer yesterday came just days ahead of a closely watched deadline this weekend.

The property developer had already missed the Sept. 23 deadline for the interest payment, and had a 30-day grace period before it would be considered a default.

This amplified uncertainty in the market over whether the debt-laden real estate developer would be able to meet obligations.

News of the payment sent Evergrande's dollar bonds up 3 cents on the dollar, Bloomberg reported, citing credit traders.

Evergrande is facing several more deadlines on bond payments it has already missed, as well as those on upcoming ones. It has another interest payment worth $45.2 million due to bondholders later this month.

Bloomberg data shows Evergrande has some $7.4 billion of bonds maturing next year.

China Evergrande shares in Hong Kong are up over 2% in early trade after tanking as much as 14% yesterday.