Emerging Markets: Israel's shekel weakens ahead of rate verdict, Asia stocks fall

Sasol

26/02/2024 09:38

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      Israel rate decision at 1400 GMT
    

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      Hungary rate decision on Tuesday 
    

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      China stocks snap 9-day win streak
    

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      South Africa's Sasol falls after 34% HY profit drop
    

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      Stocks down 0.4%, FX adds 0.1%
    

  
    By Shashwat Chauhan
       Feb 26 (Reuters) - A gauge on emerging market stocks
dipped on Monday as most bourses in Asia took a hit on the first
day of the week, while Israel's shekel was under pressure ahead
of its central bank's monetary policy decision.
    As of 0921 GMT, MSCI's gauge for emerging market stocks
 .MSCIEF  dipped 0.4% as stocks in EM heavyweight China
 .CSI300  closed 1.0% lower, snapping a nine-day winning streak.
    Bourses in South Korea  .KS11  and Hong Kong  .HSI  also
started the week on softer footing, falling 0.8% and 0.5%,
respectively.
    Focus will remain on Israel, with the shekel  ILS=  falling
0.3% to 3.6302 per dollar ahead of the Bank of Israel's verdict
on monetary policy at 1400 GMT, with traders split between a
quarter-point rate cut or the bank opting to stand pat at 4.5%.
    In Europe, the Hungarian forint  EURHUF=  led losses early
on, down 0.6% against the euro ahead of its central bank rate
decision on Tuesday, with bets hinting at the bank cutting its
base rate by 100 bps to 9%.
    The Czech crown  EURCZK=  was pinned at 25.357 per euro,
while Poland's zloty  EURPLN=  eased 0.2%.
    A broader gauge of EM currencies  .MIEM00000CUS  edged 0.1%
higher, while South Africa's rand  ZAR=  fell 0.1% against the
dollar
    Stocks in Johannesburg  .JTOPI  dropped 1.1% as Sasol
 SOLJ.J , the world's biggest producer of fuels and chemicals
from coal and gas, fell 5.7% after reporting a 34% decline in
half-year profit.
    The Russian rouble  RUBUTSTN=MCX  hovered at near 93 to the
dollar, while the dollar-denominated RTS stock index  .IRTS 
rose 2.4%.  RU/RUB 
    A plethora of inflation data around the world will take
centre stage this week, including a broader euro zone print and
manufacturing activity figures out of China.
    Also on the radar will be the Federal Reserve's favoured
measure of inflation - the core personal consumption
expenditures (PCE) price index - due on Thursday.
    "All in all, we expect this last week of February to
encourage less aggressive bets on Fed easing," Francesco Pesole,
FX strategist at ING wrote referring to the PCE data.
    EM currencies have been rocked lately as investors continue
to scale back their enthusiasm around rate cut expectations from
the Fed, amid signs of economic resilience in the world's
biggest economy.
      
    HIGHLIGHTS:
    
    ** Egypt's sovereign dollar bonds extend rally after UAE
investment deal
    ** Fitch revises up Czech outlook on receding economic
uncertainty
    ** Zambia dollar bonds jump after creditor agreements with
China, India
    
    
    For TOP NEWS across emerging markets  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nTOPEMRG
    For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see  CEE/ 
    For TURKISH market report, see  .IS 
    For RUSSIAN market report, see  RU/RUB 

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For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2024    http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2024    https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX
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 (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed
Osmond)
 ((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))