EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks selloff rumbles on, China strains hit Asia FX
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Emerging market stocks fell for a fourth day
running on Wednesday as growing concerns about the ability of central banks to
keep pump priming global growth left them on their worst run in three months.
Another 0.3 percent fall pushed MSCI's closely-followed 27-country EM index
to a six-week low, though emerging Europe's bourses offered some hope
as they began to pull out of the dive.
Asia had been a different story altogether. Alarm bells in China's interbank
lending markets saw stocks there extend this
week's losses to 2.4 percent, which for now at least is the worst since April.
The Malaysian ringgit, Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso led losses
among EM currencies, meanwhile, with the ringgit sliding to a
three-month low and the peso dropping to its weakest since late
February.
"For now we have some volatility back, so we have to see how this plays
out," said Aberdeen Asset Management portfolio manager Viktor Szabo.
"It looks like the market was quite complacent on U.S. rates and the U.S.
election, and also European rates because the selloff really accelerated after
the ECB meeting (that didn't flag new stimulus push)."
UniCredit's EM FX strategist Kiran Kowshik also cautioned that the next
couple of weeks should see EM currencies underperform both the euro and Japanese
yen, even if the dollar, which usually drives EM moves, remains subdued.
"Developed market (DM) bond yields are moving higher. This is important
because after the UK's vote to leave the EU, the EMFX rally became highly
correlated with the rally in DM bonds," he said.
Thailand's baht edged up as its central bank keep interest rates
steady, while central Europe was set for Croatia's first central bank meeting
since snap national elections.
The region's main focus was still the Czech crown though where investors are
positioning for an end to the currency's 27 per euro exchange rate cap
.
That has driven euro-crown forwards to record lows in recent days,
indicating the currency will bust its ceiling in coming months,
though Czech central bank governor Jiri Rusnok tried to nudge those
bets back on Tuesday.
"From how the forecast is being fulfilled so far, it is probably rather a
question of the second half, rather after the (summer) holidays next year," he
told reporters.
In frontier markets, Mongolia's three outstanding dollar bonds tumbled
0.5-0.7 cent across the curve,
amid a recent copper price slide and growing fears the cash
strapped country may default on debt.
Adding to the woes, Mongolian miner Erdenet has had its UK assets frozen
over an old $8 million debt bill, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Brazil, the EM market star performer of the year despite being locked in the
deepest recession in roughly eighty years, was again in the spotlight as its new
government launched a sweeping plan to auction off oil and gas, electricity and
infrastructure licenses.
This week also saw the once powerful former parliament speaker Eduardo
Cunha, who engineered the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, banned from
politics for eight years for lying about secret Swiss bank accounts.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/jus35t
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/weh36s
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging Europe performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/jun28s
For GRAPHIC on MSCI frontier index performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/zyh97s
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see )
Emerging Markets Prices from
Reuters
Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg
on year
Morgan Stanley
Emrg Mkt Indx 884.05 -1.96 -0.22 +11.32
Czech Rep 869.27 +0.98 +0.11 -9.10
Poland 1729.51 +1.82 +0.11 -6.97
Hungary 27902.52 +74.51 +0.27 +16.65
Romania 6946.21 +6.94 +0.10 -0.83
Greece 558.84 +1.88 +0.34 -11.48
Russia 970.15 +1.62 +0.17 +28.15
South Africa 45951.03 -323.94 -0.70 +0.34
Turkey 77053.54 -789.95 -1.01 +7.43
China 3002.67 -20.84 -0.69 -15.16
India 28296.26 -57.28 -0.20 +8.34
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Reuters
Reuters
09/14/2016 5:44
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