EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks ease ahead of major rate decisions

Emerging market stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors exercised caution ahead of key central bank meetings this week, while surging oil prices piled pressure on crude importers such as India and Turkey. The MSCI's EM equities index edged 0.1% lower, with bourses in Shanghai , Seoul, Budapest and Warsaw all slipping.

Emerging market stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors exercised caution ahead of key central bank meetings this week, while surging oil prices piled pressure on crude importers such as India and Turkey.

The MSCI's EM equities index edged 0.1% lower, with bourses in Shanghai , Seoul, Budapest and Warsaw all slipping. The Turkish lira eased to 27 per dollar, ahead of the Turkish central bank meeting this week where it is expected to hike interest rates by 500 basis points.

The Indian rupee slipped to 83.2 in thin trading due to a local holiday. The currency is trading near a record low of 83.44 per dollar. Spurring concerns about persistent inflationary pressures, oil prices touched 10-month highs, trading above $90 per barrel, as weak U.S. shale output fuelled fresh concerns about a supply deficit stemming from extended production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

"Some of the poorest importing countries have recently made macroeconomic policy corrections sufficient to put them back on the radar of foreign investors and this oil price spike will test their will to see those corrections through," Hasnain Malik, managing director of emerging and frontier markets equity strategy at Tellimer wrote in a note. In the latest development in China's struggling property sector, Sunac China Holdings filed for Chapter 15 protection from creditors in a U.S. court, erasing early relief after the firm and Country Garden forged debt restructuring deals with creditors.

Hong Kong's property sector index slipped 0.1%. Investors have recently taken comfort from signs of a possible turnaround in China's economy. However, housing sector uncertainty has remained a drag on equities.

BlackRock Investment Institute on Monday downgraded emerging market stocks and Chinese equities to "neutral" from "overweight". A gauge of EM currencies was flat against the dollar as focus remains on the Federal Reserve policy decision on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank is seen standing pat on rates but traders are divided about the next move in November.

"Emerging markets as a whole are in some kind of a holding pattern with everyone looking ahead to global factors surrounding central bank policies later in the week," said James Wilson, EM sovereign strategist at ING . Key decisions from central banks in South Africa and Brazil are also on tap this week.

"Turkey is definitely going to be a big focus after the shift towards more orthodox monetary policy... and markets are looking for a 500 basis point hike from Turkey this week," Wilson added. In central and eastern European countries, currencies were mixed. Poland's zloty inched 0.2% down, while Hungary's forint added 0.1%.

Czech retail sales are returning to levels seen last year, indicating a recovery in household consumption over the rest of the year, central banker Tomas Holub said. The crown currency was up 0.1%. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2023, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2023, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

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