Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Emerging-market currencies weakened as failed talks to keep bailout funds flowing to Greece hurt demand for riskier assets. Russia’s ruble slid as concerns grew that a peace deal for Ukraine may collapse.

South Korea’s won fell the most since October versus the dollar as Indonesia’s rupiah and Malaysia’s ringgit slid 0.7 percent. The ruble lost 1.6 percent while Russian equities fluctuated. Tencent Holdings Ltd. led technology shares lower. China Mobile Ltd. jumped the most since August in Hong Kong.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.2 percent to 962.76 at 8:45 a.m. in London. Euro-area governments left tough decisions on the future of Greece’s bailout for next week, after talks failed to bridge differences over the aid program that the Greek government blames for economic hardship. Russia presented “unacceptable” conditions in peace talks in Minsk to end the conflict in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to AFP news service.

“The uncertainties over Greece’s debt situation and the geopolitical concerns on Ukraine are negatively affecting investors sentiment on emerging assets,” Maynard Arif, head of research at PT DBS Vickers Securities Indonesia, said by phone from Jakarta. “Going forward, development of these two factors will affect volatility in the market.”

Greek Talks

With Greece’s current bailout expiring at the end of February, finance ministers met for six hours in Brussels without signing off on any conclusions on the way forward for the region’s most-indebted nation. That leaves open how Greece can avoid running out of cash and avert a possible exit from the 19-nation currency union.

The won lost 1.2 percent and the rupiah slid for a fourth day. The ringgit fell to a one-week low. Data showed Malaysia’s economic growth beat estimates and the current-account surplus declined. India’s rupee dropped 0.3 percent.

The ruble fell for the first time in four days and the Micex Index was little changed. Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France meeting in Belarus are trying to stop a draft peace plan for Ukraine from falling apart after a government official had earlier reported that an agreement had been struck.

Donetsk and Luhansk rebels rejected the accord, three officials present at the talks said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. Ukraine reached a preliminary accord with the International Monetary Fund over a $40 billion bailout to avert a default.

Stock Valuations

The developing-nations gauge has risen 0.5 percent this year and trades at 11.5 times 12-month projected earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has gained 0.8 percent in 2015 and is valued at a multiple of 16.3.

Five out of 10 industry groups in the developing-market gauge fell, led by technology companies. Tencent dropped 1.5 percent. China Mobile Ltd. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. rallied more than 4 percent in Hong Kong.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 1.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent, its fourth day of advances. TSRC Corp. dropped 5.3 percent in Taipei after the stock was removed from the MSCI Taiwan Index. Tenaga Nasional Bhd. posted the steepest two-day loss since 2008 after Malaysia announced plans to lower electricity tariffs.