Emerging-market stocks fell for a third day as concern grew China will target slower economic growth. Russia’s rouble led currencies higher.
China Mobile Limited dropped the most in three weeks as a gauge of developing-nation telecoms companies traded below its average level of the past 100 days. Stocks in Shanghai posted the biggest loss in a month amid speculation new-share sales will divert funds from existing equities.
The rouble ended a two-day decline, while Russian bonds advanced.
Beijing may set a growth target of around 7 percent for this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported. That’s below the 2014 target and may be announced at the start of the National People’s Congress on Thursday. Chinese shares gainedMonday after the central bank cut interest rates over the weekend.
“The weakness in China’s economy remains a top concern,” Agus Yanuar, president director at PT Samuel Aset Manajemen, said by phone from Jakarta. “I don’t think China’s decision to lower interest rate would be the last move they have to boost its economy.”
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.3 percent to 985.61 at 11:37 a.m. in London. The gauge has gained 3.1 percent this year as countries from India to Turkey cut interest rates and Brent crude rebounded 31 percent from the lowest price since March 2009.
The rouble advanced 0.8 percent to 62.16 per dollar and the dollar-denominated RTS Index headed for the first two-day gain since February 13. Oil traded above $60 a barrel, boosting sentiment after Morgan Stanley downgraded assets of the world’s largest energy exporter to sell.
Russian bond yields fell from a four-week high after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a truce in eastern Ukraine is holding. Ukraine’s hryvnia strengthened the most among global peers. A gauge of 20 emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg rose for the first time in four days.
“The rouble is up a little, perhaps reflecting higher oil prices,” William Jackson, a senior emerging-markets analyst at Capital Economics Limited in London, said by phone. “Some of the US economic data released yesterday weren’t particularly strong. At the margin, that might have tempered expectations for interest-rate hikes.”
The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 2.2 percent, ending a three-day gain. China’s securities regulator said Monday it has approved initial public offering plans for 12 companies. IPO bids have held back gains in the Chinese gauge as investors avoid buying stocks that already trade to keep their cash available, according to West China Securities Co.
Seven out of 10 industry groups in the emerging-markets measure decreased, led by telecommunications and financial companies. China Mobile declined 2.2 percent, while China Life Insurance dropped 3.8 percent, the most sinceJanuary 19.
The developing-nation gauge trades at 11.8 times the projected earnings of its members, compared with 16.8 times for the MSCI World Index of developed-market stocks.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited rose 1.9 percent in Mumbai after buying GlaxoSmithKline plc’s opiates business in Australia. India’s S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.5 percent to a one-month high.
The premium investors demand to own emerging-market debt rather than US Treasuries slipped three basis points to 345, the lowest level this year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes.
