Russia drags down emerging stocks

File picture: Alex Grimm

File picture: Alex Grimm

Published May 27, 2014

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Hanoi - Emerging-market stocks declined, with the benchmark gauge headed for the first back-to-back loss in a month, as Russian equities tumbled and Indian shares retreated from a record.

Turkey’s lira led currencies lower.

The Micex Index slid from a three-month high in Moscow as OAO Gazprom and OAO Sberbank sank at least 2.8 percent amid renewed tension in Ukraine.

South Africa’s equity gauge fell from an all-time high.

Turkish shares ended a five-day rally and the lira slipped as consumer confidence retreated.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slipped 0.6 percent to 1,035.73 by 11:53 a.m. in London.

It is set for a fourth month of gains in May, the longest rally since 2009.

Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko vowed to step up military action against pro-Russian separatists in the east.

In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any escalation would be a “colossal mistake.”

The Shanghai Composite Index fell, taking its loss this year to 3.9 percent amid concern economic expansion is slowing.

“Emerging-market stocks are falling on the Ukrainian conflict and continued worries about Chinese growth,” Maarten-Jan Bakkum, an emerging-markets strategist at ING Investment Management in The Hague, said by e-mail.

“Markets have been strong over the past weeks, so a bit of correction is not that strange.”

The developing-nation’s gauge has climbed 3.3 percent this year, taking its valuation to 10.7 times projected 12-month earnings, near the most expensive level since January, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The MSCI World Index has increased 2.6 percent in 2014 and trades at multiple of 14.9 times.

 

Russian Shares

 

All 10 industry groups in the developing-nation gauge fell, led by energy and health care companies.

Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas producer, dropped the most in a month.

The Micex headed for the steepest loss since April 15.

The gauge rose 0.7 percent yesterday to the highest level since February 26.

The Russian ruble depreciated 0.3 percent, weakening for a second day.

Ukraine’s Poroshenko pledged a “sharp increase” in the “efficiency” of military operations against rebels in the country’s eastern cities.

“The clash between the Ukrainian army and rebels in Donetsk yesterday has driven Russian stocks down, as well as Moscow’s calls for the Ukrainian army to back off,” Bakkum said.

“With the conflict in the Ukraine still fragile and the prospects for emerging markets far from great, the outlook for the Russian market after the recent rally is not that good.”

 

Lira Drops

 

The lira weakened the most in a week after a report showed Turkish consumer confidence fell this month.

The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index slid 0.3 percent, retreating for the first time in six days.

The WIG30 Index in Warsaw ended a seven-day rally, declining 0.5 percent.

The BUX Index in Budapest rose 0.2 percent while the forint depreciated 0.2 percent, weakening for a second day.

Hungary’s central bank will probably reduce its benchmark rate by 10 basis points to 2.4 percent today, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Shares Index in Johannesburg fell 0.2 percent, retreating from a record, as gold miners slid.

AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third-biggest producer of bullion, extended its losses for a fifth day, falling 1.6 percent.

The rand dropped 0.7 percent against the dollar.

 

Foreign Ownership

 

Qatar’s QE Index rose 0.8 percent, the highest since at least 1998 when Bloomberg started tracking the market, in Doha after the gas-rich country raised the foreign ownership limit for shares listed on its bourse, less than a week before an MSCI upgrade.

Romania’s leu appreciated 0.2 percent, strengthening for a fifth day, on rising capital inflows triggered by an increase in the country’s credit rating to investment grade.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index fell 0.7 in Mumbai, down for the first time in four days.

It has climbed 16 percent this year and is valued at 15.1 times projected 12-month earnings, near the most expensive level since 2011.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 percent.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong lost 0.4 percent.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors tumbled at least 2.3 percent in Seoul, dragging the Kospi index down 0.6 percent.

Samsung Electronics fell 1.1 percent, the largest drag on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Vietnam’s VN Index rose 1.6 percent to the highest level since May 7.

The gauge is down 9 percent from this year’s peak on March 24.

Indonesia’s stock market is closed for a holiday. - Bloomberg News

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