EMERGING MARKETS-EM stocks retreat as caution sets in ahead of trade deal signing

Emerging market stocks fell from 19-month highs on Wednesday, as optimism around a long-awaited initial U.S.-China trade deal was dulled by comments that U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would stay in place until the next phase of the agreement was reached.

An index of emerging market equities shed 0.4%, after gaining earlier this week as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He geared up to sign the Phase 1 trade pact in Washington on Wednesday. The two sides have not yet disclosed finer details of the agreement, but a rally in world stocks lost steam after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday the United States would keep existing tariffs until the completion of a Phase 2 deal.

"Some air has come out of the trade deal party balloon as the market pivots to the unknowns around the Phase 2 component," said Stephen Innes, a market strategist at AxiTrader. "A more on the nose surprise, like an explicit roadmap for a further rollback in tariffs, could open the way for more definite appreciation (in markets)."

Global stock markets have scaled record highs since December as investors bet on faster global growth this year, supported by relatively loose monetary policy by some of the world's most influential central banks and strong corporate earnings. U.S. banks kicked off the fourth-quarter reporting reason on a high on Tuesday, with the biggest U.S. lender JPMorgan Chase & Co hitting new profit records despite persistently low interest rates.

Economic indicators in the developing world have been more mixed, with political uncertainty and sluggish growth in most regional economies denting demand for riskier assets. MSCI's index of emerging market currencies dipped on Wednesday after gaining for six days in a row. The South African rand was flat ahead of retail sales figures for November due later in the day. Africa's most industrialised economy stuttered last year, partly due to the most severe blackouts in a decade.

Russia's rouble was also little changed versus the dollar, as investor attention turned to President Vladimir Putin's annual address to lawmakers and the ruling elite. The Turkish lira eased 0.2% for the second straight session, as data showed the budget deficit widened to 123.69 billion lira ($21 billion) in 2019, partly reflecting fiscal stimulus to lift the economy from recession.

Currencies in eastern and central European economies such as Hungary and Poland slipped slightly against the euro. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2020, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2020, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see

For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see

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