Emerging-Market Stocks Pare Weekly Decline as Ruble Advances
By Bloomberg
Emerging-market stocks rose for the first time in six days, paring a weekly loss, as Samsung Electronics Co. rallied and consumer-discretionary companies gained. Russia’s ruble headed for a two-month high.
Samsung climbed to a nine-month high in Seoul to lead a 0.7 percent gain in South Korean shares. Hyundai Motor Co. added 3.3 percent. Indonesia’s equity gauge headed for a record close. The ruble strengthened 1.8 percent versus the dollar and South Korea’s won halted a two-day drop. Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. slid 6.9 percent in Hong Kong from a record high.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased 0.3 percent to 977.51 at 8:06 a.m. in London, trimming declines this week to 1.3 percent. The gauge is poised for its steepest weekly slide since Jan. 30. A payrolls report Friday may give clues on the timing of U.S. interest-rate increases. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi set Monday to start asset purchases amounting to 60 billion euros ($66 billion) a month.
“Markets are still volatile,” Thebes Lo, a Hong Kong- based vice president at Kim Eng Securities Ltd., said by phone. “The ECB measures are already priced in.”
The developing-nation index has gained 2.1 percent this year and trades at 11.8 times projected 12-month earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has risen 3.3 percent in 2015 and is valued at a multiple of 16.8.
Tech Gains
Samsung added 1.4 percent, the biggest contributor to gains in the emerging-markets index. The Kospi index closed at a five- month high. Largan Precision Co. surged 4.6 percent in Taipei after February sales jumped 63 percent from a year earlier.
Nine out of 10 industry groups rose, paced by consumer- discretionary shares. Hyundai Motor advanced to the highest close since Jan. 20 and Kia Motors Corp. gained 2.4 percent. PT Unilever Indonesia climbed to a record to lead a 0.7 percent increase in the Jakarta Composite Index.
The won rose after posting its steepest drop in two weeks yesterday. The ruble strengthened for a second day as oil headed for the first weekly gain in three weeks. Russia’s Micex index slid 0.3 percent.
OCI Co. and Hanwha Chemical Corp. jumped more than 9 percent in Seoul, the most in the emerging-markets gauge, as concerns of a supply glut in polysilicon eased. GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd., the biggest maker of polysilicon and wafers used in solar panels, said it has no plans to ramp up capacity.
Hanergy tumbled the most since July 4 after rallying 62 percent in the previous four days after CLSA Ltd. said its performance has left shares overvalued.
The Shanghai Composite Index capped its first weekly drop in a month on concern that new share offerings next week will divert funds from existing equities. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 0.1 percent.
China on Thursday set its growth target for 2015 at about 7 percent, down from about 7.5 percent last year and the lowest in more than 15 years.
Equity gauges in Taiwan and and the Philippines increased 0.5 percent. The ringgit weakened 0.1 percent after the nation’s exports unexpectedly slid.
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