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Business News/ Market / Stock-market-news/  Emerging markets rise to 16-month high on improved US job data
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Emerging markets rise to 16-month high on improved US job data

The developing-nation measure has advanced 6% this year and trades at 11 times projected 12-month earnings

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.1% to 1,063.35 at 3:31 pm in Hong Kong, poised for its highest close since 11 March 2013. Photo: BloombergPremium
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.1% to 1,063.35 at 3:31 pm in Hong Kong, poised for its highest close since 11 March 2013. Photo: Bloomberg

Seoul: Emerging-market stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to the highest level in almost 16 months, as better-than-estimated US jobs data boosted the outlook for exports from developing nations.

Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. climbed 5%, leading gains among Chinese property developers. Erste Group Bank AG dropped 16% in Prague. The Philippine benchmark equity gauge closed at its highest level since May 2013 after data on Friday showed inflation slowed in June. Malaysia’s ringgit rose to its highest level since November, while the South African rand was set for its biggest weekly decline in five weeks as metalworkers failed to reach an agreement to end a strike.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.1% to 1,063.35 at 3:31 pm in Hong Kong, poised for its highest close since 11 March 2013. The gauge has risen 1.6% this week, the most in four weeks. Data from the US on Thursday showed that growth in payrolls exceeded economists’ estimates and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since before the financial crisis peaked six years ago.

The global economic recovery is on track, Daphne Roth, head of Asian equity research at ABN Amro Private Banking in Singapore, said by phone. More and more people are jumping onto the bandwagon. We’re also seeing this translating into exports growth in Asia and developing markets.

The developing-nation measure has advanced 6% this year and trades at 11 times projected 12-month earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 6.2% gain in the MSCI World Index, which is valued at a multiple of 15.

China property

Shimao Property, the Hong Kong-based real estate developer, rallied to its highest level since 22 April after Barclays Plc said Chinese property companies will benefit from policy easing and better June sales. The overall policy environment has turned increasingly friendly in recent months as many local governments were reported to have loosened their property regulations to boost market sentiment, Barclays said.

Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. and KWG Property Holding Ltd. gained at least 2.7% in Hong Kong after Barclays named them their preferred real estate stocks. Country Garden Holdings Co. surged 4.9%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong increased 0.3%.

Erste slump

Erste, which owns the second-largest Hungarian and the biggest Romanian banks, slumped the most since October 2008 after it estimated the two units will cause a loss of as much as €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion). The company predicts loan-loss provisions will rise to €2.4 billion this year, 40% more than it forecast earlier, the Vienna-based bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index climbed 0.9%, the best performer among Asian emerging-market gauges. Consumer prices rose 4.4% in June, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, compared with the median forecast for a 4.6% increase in a Bloomberg survey. The core consumer- price index advanced 2.8% from a year earlier.

Malaysia’s ringgit strengthened 0.3% on speculation that Bank Negara Malaysia will increase benchmark borrowing costs from 3% on 10 July. The country’s exports rose 16.3% in May, exceeding expectations and climbing for a 11th straight month, its trade ministry said in a report on Friday.

Industrial dispute

The South African rand is heading for a 1.4% loss this week, the most since May, after talks failed to end an indefinite strike staged by more than 220,000 metal workers. The stoppage, which began on 1July, has so far forced General Motors Co. to halt output at its vehicle-assembly plant. It also prompted Moody’s Investors Service to warn on Friday that the nation’s credit rating may be at risk.

Indonesia’s rupiah strengthened 1.1% this week, set for its biggest increase since March. The nation’s trade balance swung to a $70 million surplus in May, from a $1.96 billion deficit in April, official data showed 1 July.

The nation holds a presidential election next week. Candidate Joko Widodo, who is leading in opinion polls, plans to allow foreigners to buy apartments in an effort to raise tax revenue, Setyo Maharso, a member of his campaign team, said on Thursday.

US job growth beat forecasts as payrolls rose by 288,000 workers following a 224,000 gain the previous month, according to labour department data released on Thursday. The 1.39 million increase in employment over the past six months is the biggest over a similar period since early 2006. Financial markets in the US are closed on Friday for a holiday.

Seven out of 10 industry groups in the developing-market index increased, led by health-care and consumer stocks. Amorepacific Corp. rallied to a record, while IHH Healthcare Bhd., Asia’s biggest hospital operator, rose 1.4%.

Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul 100 Index increased 0.1%, rising for a second day, and the Micex Index headed for its steepest loss in a week in Moscow.

Vietnam’s benchmark index gained 0.8%, rising to its highest level in almost three months, while Thailand’s SET Index rose 0.5%. Benchmark gauges in India and Shanghai fell at least 0.2%. BLOOMBERG

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Published: 04 Jul 2014, 02:17 PM IST
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