Emerging market stocks sank to their lowest in a week and currencies came under pressure on
Monday, weighed down by nerves over a raft of central bank meetings, while ratings concerns battered Poland's zloty.
MSCI's emerging market benchmark slipped 0.8 percent in its second straight day of losses, with bourses
across Asia trading lower.
Russian dollar-denominated stocks and the Polish bourse fell around 1 percent as stocks in South Africa
sank 0.6 percent and Turkey's main index almost matched that fall.
Stocks across the Gulf traded broadly lower, also weighed down by oil prices falling more than 1 percent. Saudi
Arabia's index fell 0.5 percent ahead of the release of a government plan aimed at weaning the country off its economic
reliance on oil which could create jobs but bring economic pain.
With investors nervous ahead of ahead of central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week, currencies
also slipped against the dollar. China's yuan being fixed at its softest mid-point so far this month.
"I am getting increasingly concerned about the extension of the EM rally, whether on the equity front or the FX front," said
Cristian Maggio, head of EM strategy at TD Securities, adding there were no fundamentals justifying the dramatic
outperformance in March and April.
"All that justifies these moves is the dovish message from the Federal Reserve, and the reduced perception of the China risk," he added.
The Fed, which lifted its benchmark overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade, meets on
Tuesday and Wednesday. Policymakers expected to hold rates steady but possibly tweak their description of the U.S. economic
outlook leaving the path open for future rate hikes, which could
ramp up pressure on emerging currencies.
Lower oil added to the downward momentum for Russia's rouble,which weakened 0.6 percent against the greenback. South
Africa's rand more than matched those falls, extending its weakening into a third straight session.
Across central and eastern Europe, currencies slippedbagainst the euro.
The Polish zloty led the falls, trading at its weakest in more than two months and getting
battered by worries the region's largest economy may face a ratings downgrade.
On Sunday, President Andrzej Duda said he had picked a uccessor to central bank governor Marek Belka whom he was sure
would be welcomed by financial markets, though he did not disclose the name.
Serbia's dinar traded flat after Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was on track to win 50 percent of the vote in
Sunday's snap election, scoring a resounding victory on his
pro-EU ticket.
Kazakhstan's dollar-denominated bonds fell by 0.3 cents to their lowest in almost a week after ratings agency
Moody's downgraded the crude exporter's sovereign rating late on Friday, citing the drop in the price of oil and the subsequent
deterioration in fiscal and economic strength.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2016, see
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2016, see
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging Europe performance 2016, see
For GRAPHIC on MSCI frontier index performance 2016, see
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 838.88 -6.33 -0.75 +5.63
Czech Rep 908.34 -11.26 -1.22 -5.02
Poland 1924.08 -18.95 -0.98 +3.49
Hungary 26551.46 -195.63 -0.73 +11.00
Romania 6573.98 +13.36 +0.20 -6.14
Greece 603.49 -2.43 -0.40 -4.41
Russia 920.38 -11.08 -1.19 +21.58
South Africa 46185.67 -319.81 -0.69 +0.85
Turkey 85328.87 -499.79 -0.58 +18.96
China 2946.96 -12.28 -0.41 -16.73
India 25638.15 -199.99 -0.77 -1.84
Currencies Latest Prev Local Local
close currency currency
% change % change
in 2016
Czech Rep 27.02 27.04 +0.07 -0.06
Poland 4.39 4.37 -0.51 -2.96
Hungary 310.95 310.11 -0.27 +1.19
Romania 4.47 4.47 +0.08 +1.09
Serbia 122.74 122.77 +0.02 -1.03
Russia 66.80 66.37 -0.64 +9.21
Kazakhstan 333.46 334.50 +0.31 +2.11
Ukraine 25.33 25.32 -0.04 -5.44
South Africa 14.51 14.40 -0.81 +6.54
Kenya 101.15 101.10 -0.05 +1.04
Israel 3.77 3.77 -0.10 +3.05
Turkey 2.85 2.85 -0.01 +2.41
China 6.49 6.50 +0.10 -0.03
India 66.74 66.65 -0.14 -0.82
Brazil 3.57 3.56 -0.06 +11.04
Mexico 17.56 17.47 -0.52 -2.25
Debt Index Strip Spd Chg %Rtn Index
Sov'gn Debt EMBIG 406 1 .02 7 16.41 1
All data taken from Reuters at #N/A The record could not be
found GMT.
