STOCKS SUFFER MORE LOSSES

EMERGING market stocks dropped for the seventh consecutive session on Friday, with optimism around faster global growth fading as the World Health Organisation declared a global emergency in the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China.

An index of emerging market stocks shed 0.4 percent and was on track to log its biggest weekly decline since May 2019, as risk appetite took a hit from the epidemic that has killed more than 200 people and drew a warning from the US government against travelling to China.

With several companies suspending operations in China and with the travel, tourism and retail sectors taking a hit from tough containment measures by Beijing, investors have turned wary about an uptick in economic growth.

Latest data from the world’s number two economy showed factory activity faltered in January, raising concerns about a further slowdown in February as the full economic effects of the outbreak become known.

“The market will need more clarity on the results of containment efforts in China,” said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp.

“The key will be the spread of the virus slowing each day, so this could be a considerable weekend for risk as the market remains focused on headcount.”

With Chinese onshore markets closed until today for the Lunar New Year holidays, declines in Asia were led by South Korean shares, which closed out the week with their sharpest fall in 15 months.

Several emerging market currencies remained muted on Friday against a steady dollar, but were still eyeing their second straight week of declines.

The Turkish lira was nearly unchanged, a day after the central bank released quarterly inflation forecasts for 2020 and kept the door open for more policy easing after aggressively cutting interest rates last year.

Turkish equities were down about 0.2 percent. Glassmaker Sisecam outperformed the wider index with an 11 percent jump after forecasting a 200300 basis points increase in EBITDA as a result of a merger with its units.

South Africa’s rand shed about half a percent, weighed down by renewed power cuts and a weak domestic economic outlook.

The currency had tumbled nearly 1 percent on Thursday.

Other currencies in central and eastern European economies including Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania were flat versus the euro. I Reuters