Emerging stocks fall led by Poland after vote; currencies weaken
By Bloomberg
Emerging-market stocks fell and currencies declined for a sixth day as concern grew the U.S. will raise interest rates. Polish shares dropped after an opposition candidate won the presidential election.
Banks led the biggest equity decline in four months in Warsaw after the vote set up a showdown for a fall election that may unseat one of Europe’s most economically successful governments. ITC Ltd., India’s biggest tobacco company, fell 3.8 percent after its profit trailed estimates. Chinese shares jumped to a seven-year high. Malaysia’s ringgit led currencies lower.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index decreased 0.6 percent to 1,031.26 at 1:04 p.m. in London. A Bloomberg gauge of currencies weakened to a one-month low. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that she expects to raise borrowing costs this year after a report showed core inflation was higher than forecast. South Korea, Hong Kong, the U.S. and U.K. were among countries where trading was closed for public holidays.
“Yellen’s comments confirm that there will be in most likely case an interest rate hike near September,” Hertta Alava, the head of emerging markets at FIM Asset Management Ltd., said by phone from Helsinki. “That is pressuring emerging-market currencies.”
The ringgit depreciated 0.8 percent against the dollar while Turkey’s lira and South Africa’s rand each lost at least 0.4 percent. South Korea’s won slid 0.8 percent in off-shore trading.
Polish Elections
The WIG 20 Index fell 1.6 percent. Benchmark gauges in Russia, Turkey, India, Thailand and Malaysia also decreased more than 1 percent.
Poland’s zloty was little changed against the euro after earlier weakening to a two-month low. The currency has declined 1.5 percent since opposition candidate Andrzej Duda won the first-round vote on May 10, the worst performance in emerging Europe after Hungary’s forint. Bonds fell, sending the yield on 10-year securities up eight basis points to 2.89 percent.
Duda vowed to pursue an “active” presidency, with plans to raise the level of non-taxable income and introduce additional tax benefits for families. He also criticized the banking industry for charging “too much” and for burdening Poles with foreign-currency mortgages, pledging to boost taxes.
The ruble gained 0.1 percent against the dollar following a four day decline as companies faced a tax-payment deadline on Monday, boosting demand for the local currency.
China Rally
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has climbed 7.9 percent this year and trades at 12.3 times projected 12-month earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has risen 5.4 percent in 2015 and is valued at a multiple of 16.9.
All 10 industry groups fell in the emerging-market index, led by energy producers and utilities. OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas producer, slid 1.7 percent and Malaysia’s electric utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd. sank 3.4 percent. India’s Tata Power Co. lost 1.5 percent after the BSE Ltd. said it will remove the company from the S&P BSE Sensex starting June 22.
The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 3.4 percent to the highest close since January 2008. China’s CSI 300 Index, representing the largest stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen, jumped 3 percent amid speculation the government will accelerate measures to bolster the economy and cross-border sales of mutual funds will fuel equity inflows.
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