EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks, FX slide after U.S. inflation print triggers global selloff

Most emerging market stocks and currencies eased on Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data squashed hopes of the Federal Reserve kicking off its rate-cutting cycle in June. The MSCI indexes for emerging market currencies and emerging market stocks shed 0.3% each by 0838 GMT, ahead of U.S. producer prices data later in the day after Wednesday's figures showed U.S. inflation rose more than expected in March.

Most emerging market stocks and currencies eased on Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data squashed hopes of the Federal Reserve kicking off its rate-cutting cycle in June.

The MSCI indexes for emerging market currencies and emerging market stocks shed 0.3% each by 0838 GMT, ahead of U.S. producer prices data later in the day after Wednesday's figures showed U.S. inflation rose more than expected in March. The European Central Bank's rate decision expected later in the day was also in focus.

Hungary's forint inched 0.2% higher against the euro after headline inflation in the Central and Eastern European country eased as expected to an annual 3.6% in March, even as prices rose from the previous month and services inflation stayed hot. "Here, we have a meeting in two weeks, where we think the discussion will be between a 50 and 75bp rate cut, with a preference for a rather larger move due to the inflation profile and strong HUF at the moment," said Frantisek Taborsky, EMEA forex & fixed income strategist at ING, in a note.

The country's central bank, which has slashed interest rates by 975 basis points since last May, warned in its March meeting minutes that the structure of Hungarian inflation had changed. Meanwhile, price growth in Romania fell to 6.61% last month from 7.23% in February, below expectations.

China's yuan touched a five-month low against the dollar despite the central bank's efforts to steer it higher. South Africa's rand extended losses by 0.2% against the greenback ahead of the release of local mining and manufacturing data, while the Turkish lira was little changed.

The Russian rouble hit its lowest against the U.S. dollar since late October, also hampered by the Russian state's significantly lower foreign currency sales this month. Among stocks, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng snapped its three-day winning streak, the Shanghai Composite index closed 0.2% higher, shrugging off weak China consumer data on strong performances in copper and gold miners.

Broadly, the MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index shed 0.4%, with stocks in Manila, Singapore, Bangkok and Taipei falling between 0.1% and 0.9%. Seoul shares ended slightly higher as foreigners scooped up chip and auto stocks even though investor doubts over the government's corporate reform plan persisted after South Korea's liberal opposition scored a landslide victory in a parliamentary election.

Markets in India, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed due to public holidays. HIGHLIGHTS:

** ADB forecasts Developing Asia growth at 4.9% in 2024 ** Thai PM says rate cut would have been right for economy

** Ping An Trust delays repayment, citing China property market woes ** Uruguay central bank cuts interest rate by 50 bp to 8.50%

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)