Emerging markets were overshadowed on Friday by a third straight week of heavy falls for Chinese stocks, though the pressure eased in the currency markets after tepid US jobs data halted the dollar’s upward march.
Central and eastern Europe continued to be weighed down by Greece’s problems and the worry that if it left the euro, it would trigger new wave of economic and banking system distress that would impact the wider region.
It all left MSCI’s main emerging market index in the red for a third straight day and took its slump since late April to almost ten per cent after eight weekly falls in the last ten.
China’s previously high-flying stocks have been the main culprit. They took another 5.4 per cent battering on Friday, were down double that for the week and are now almost 30 per cent lower than they were in mid-June.
Adding to the jitters, the country’s regulators said they were investigating suspected market manipulation and would cut the amount of new companies due to float on the stock markets in the coming weeks.
Gary Greenberg, head of emerging markets for fund manager Hermes in London, said one of the problems was that slumps like the one in China tended to become self-reinforcing.
“The overall market conditions are poor but the government responses are a bit panicked rather than calm and considered,’’ he told Reuters.
“The problem is you need to let the market reach its own level rather than meddle, and they are meddling,’’ he said, adding that market level could be around 10-15 per cent lower than now.
With US markets closed for an Independence Day holiday, markets were thinner than usual, but Thursday’s slightly weaker-than-expected US non-farm payrolls jobs data remained a drag on the dollar, although it was beginning to wear off.
Most eastern European currencies remained up against the greenback, but it was on the comeback trail against most of Asia and Latin America.
Malaysia’s ringgit hit a 10-year low after the Wall Street Journal reported Prime Minister Najib Razak had close to $700 million in deposits from troubled state fund 1MDB wired into his personal account. The fund denied the report, saying it had never provided any money to Najib.
Friday’s depreciation made the ringgit emerging Asia’s worst performing currency this year. “It doesn’t help market confidence,’’ one analyst said.
In Africa, the focus remained on Nigeria as oil prices fell again, adding to the country’s economic difficulties.
The afterglow from March, when an incumbent president handed over power peacefully after what was seen as Nigeria's freest ever election, is dissipating as new leader Muhammadu Buhari shows little sign of following up on promises of economic reform.
Nigerian stocks were down for a fifth straight week.