Seoul - Emerging-market stocks fell to a three-month low and currencies slid on concern rising US interest rates will dim the appeal of riskier assets.
Hong Kong-traded Chinese shares sank after China uncovered almost $10 billion (R112 billion) of trade fraud.
Largan Precision led Taiwanese shares to a four-month low.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.7 percent.
The Philippine equity gauge retreated and the peso weakened to a five-month low versus the dollar after a surprise trade deficit.
Jindal Steel & Power tumbled 9.3 percent in Mumbai after Credit Suisse Group cut the stock’s rating.
Russia’s ruble, South Africa’s rand and Turkey’s lira lost at least 0.4 percent.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.3 percent to 1,032.33 at 10:05 am in London.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to the highest level since June 2010 data before the US reports durable-goods orders and initial jobless claims data today.
Some banks had played roles in fake trade at the port of Qingdao, China’s currency regulator said today.
“We’re seeing more capital outflows from emerging markets as the dollar strengthens following positive data from the US, proving that the world’s biggest economy is improving,” Yun Hang Jin, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said by phone from Seoul.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed after the US notes fell yesterday for the first time in five days.
The US received the lowest demand at a five-year auction this year, with investors speculating the Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 4 basis points yesterday.
Largan Tumbles
Six out of 10 industry groups fell, led by technology stocks and raw-material producers.
Optical lens maker Largan tumbled 6.8 percent as Taiwan’s Taiex Index slid 1 percent.
Wintek lost 7 percent in Taipei after a Commercial Times report said it may sell some of its factories to raise cash.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises gauge slid for a fifth day in six as BNP Paribas SA reduced its recommendation on the nation’s shares.
Companies “faked, forged and illegally re-used” documents for exports and imports, Wu Ruilin, a deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange’s inspection department, said at a briefing in Beijing.
Those involved in such fraud would be severely punished, Wu said.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose less than 0.1 percent.
Shanghai Electric rallied by the 10 percent daily limit after the China Securities Journal reported the government will allow four nuclear power projects to be built.
Trade Deficit
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index retreated 0.8 percent and the peso lost 0.8 percent after data showed imports exceeded exports by $33 million in July, compared with the median estimate for a $181 million surplus.
The ruble weakened for the first time in three days while the Micex Index added 0.6 percent, its third day of gains.
The rand headed for the lowest close since February 3 and the lira was poised to close at the lowest level since March 11.
South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining and Gold Fields dropped at least 2.2 percent in Johannesburg after bullion fell to the lowest price in more than eight months.
Jindal Steel & Power tumbled to the lowest level since March 2009.
Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to underperform after India’s top court cancelled 98 percent of coal mine permits given to companies in the past two decades.
Jaiprakash Associates plunged 17 percent in Mumbai, the biggest decline in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, after plans by its unit Jaiprakash Power Ventures to sell some of its plants to pay debt fell through.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.7 percent as Oil & Natural Gas and Reliance Industries slid at least 2.4 percent after India deferred an increase in natural gas prices for a third time.
South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.1 percent.
Vietnam’s VN Index rose 0.3 percent, erasing earlier losses.
The Jakarta Composite Index added 0.6 percent, climbing for the first time in four days.
Thailand’s SET Index increased 0.3 percent. - Bloomberg News