EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks, FX slide as rare China protests raise global growth concerns

Emerging market stocks tumbled on Monday as worries about protests against COVID curbs in the world's second-largest economy weighed on global investor sentiment and currencies in the region weakened against a stronger dollar. Chinese stocks closed lower as recent monetary easing measures failed to offset concerns about COVID protests in the country, while the yuan slipped versus the stronger greenback.

Emerging market stocks tumbled on Monday as worries about protests against COVID curbs in the world's second-largest economy weighed on global investor sentiment and currencies in the region weakened against a stronger dollar.

Chinese stocks closed lower as recent monetary easing measures failed to offset concerns about COVID protests in the country, while the yuan slipped versus the stronger greenback. "International investors have become a lot more cautious towards China," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

"Last week China cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 25 basis points (bps) to kick start its economy. However, this is unlikely to be enough to offset headwinds from Beijing’s harsh COVID lockdowns." Overall, emerging market stocks fell 1.1% and currencies slipped 0.4%.

The South African rand weakened 0.5% against the dollar on concerns that China's unrest will weigh on global growth. In Hungary, business sentiment worsened in November even as consumer confidence improved slightly, a survey showed on Monday, noting both measures remained near levels last seen during the pandemic.

The Hungarian forint added 0.2% against the euro in early trading. Other central and eastern European currencies also edged up against the euro, with the Polish zloty leading gains. Poland is seeking German support to slap EU sanctions on the Polish-German section of the Druzhba crude pipeline so Warsaw can abandon a deal to buy Russian oil next year without paying penalties, two sources familiar with the talks said on Friday.

The Russian rouble and stocks followed global oil prices lower, as concerns rose about the outlook for fuel demand in China, the world's biggest crude importer. E-scooter firm Whoosh said it is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on the Moscow Exchange, in what would be Russia's first public listing since it began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Turkey's lira edged higher against the greenback. The central bank of Turkey cut its policy rate by 150 bps to 9% last week and said it has decided to halt its easing cycle. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2022, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2022, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX For TOP NEWS across emerging markets

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