By Karin Strohecker
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets still felt on Thursday the reverberations of the standoff between Washington and Pyongyang, with stocks extending losses for a second day while currencies fared more mixed.
In a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang that has unnerved regional powers and global investors, North Korea dismissed as a "load of nonsense" warnings by U.S. President Donald Trump that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.
And it outlined detailed plans for a missile strike near the Pacific territory of Guam.
MSCI's emerging market index .MSCIEF
- dominated by Asian heavyweight bourses such as South Korea and Taiwan - slipped 0.6 percent, having lost 1.5 percent since Trump's comments.
Taiwan's bourse .TWII
tumbled 1.3 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HIS
lost 1.1 percent and South Korea's KOSPI .KS11
dropped as much as 1.2 percent to a two-month low before trading 0.4 percent lower.
Gains elsewhere failed to offset the Asian losses. Turkey .XU100
and Russia .IRTS
indexes gained 0.4 percent while South African .JTOPI
stocks edged 0.1 percent higher.
Investors faced a dilemma in how to price the latest political tensions, said Koon Chow, FX strategist at UBP.
"Most investors will be completely out of their depth in making any assessment on the situation, therefore one shouldn't make a big call on this," he said.
Still, emerging markets would likely face a softer patch as long as the political tensions fuelled investors' risk aversion, he said.
"The moment that shows some kind of abeyance, you will see emerging markets strengthen again," he said, adding developing economies still faced a benign backdrop overall thanks to little sign of monetary tightening by major central banks.
Emerging currencies fared mixed against a slightly stronger dollar .DXY
.
While the South Korean won KRW=
weakened 0.3 percent and touched a four-week low, extending a selloff from the previous two sessions.
However, South Africa's rand ZAR=
firmed 0.4 percent, recovering from the four-week low it hit after President Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence vote.
Russia's rouble RUB=
strengthened 0.3 percent, lifted by oil prices snapping two days of decline on U.S. crude inventories falling more than expected. O/R
The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected, with inflation not a concern even as the economy expands at a solid pace this year.
Central banks in Serbia, Mexico and Peru, also due to publish their decisions on Thursday, are also expected to keep rates unchanged.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/
For TURKISH market report, see .IS
For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB
)
Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg
on year
Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx .MSCIEF
1061.87 -7.05 -0.66 +23.15
Czech Rep .PX
1028.34 -1.53 -0.15 +11.58
Poland .WIG20
2403.51 -4.60 -0.19 +23.39
Hungary .BUX
36786.09 +207.62 +0.57 +14.95
Romania .BETI
8393.35 -1.78 -0.02 +18.47
Greece .ATG
838.05 +4.44 +0.53 +30.20
Russia .IRTS
1037.68 +2.70 +0.26 -9.95
South Africa .JTOPI
49629.46 +56.77 +0.11 +13.05
Turkey .XU100
09013.25 +298.67 +0.27 +39.51
China .SSEC
3261.80 -13.77 -0.42 +5.10
India .BSESN
31637.60 -160.24 -0.50 +18.82
Currencies Latest Prev Local Local
close currency currency
% change % change
in 2017
Czech Rep EURCZK=
26.14 26.18 +0.13 +3.30
Poland EURPLN=
4.27 4.27 -0.14 +3.10
Hungary EURHUF=
305.38 305.37 -0.00 +1.13
Romania EURRON=
4.57 4.57 -0.02 -0.72
Serbia EURRSD=
119.74 120.13 +0.33 +3.01
Russia RUB=
59.88 60.09 +0.35 +2.31
Kazakhstan KZT=
332.60 332.51 -0.03 +0.32
Ukraine UAH=
25.70 25.71 +0.04 +5.08
South Africa ZAR=
13.37 13.42 +0.34 +2.68
Kenya KES=
103.90 103.80 -0.10 -1.47
Israel ILS=
3.60 3.60 -0.05 +7.04
Turkey TRY=
3.53 3.54 +0.05 -0.23
China CNY=
6.66 6.67 +0.22 +4.29
India INR=
63.94 63.86 -0.13 +6.26
Brazil BRL=
3.16 3.16 +0.00 +3.09
Mexico MXN=
17.91 17.94 +0.20 +15.68
Debt Index Strip Spd Chg %Rtn Index
Sov'gn Debt 11EML
EMBIG 324 -1 .00 7 93.36 1
All data taken from Reuters at 08:51 GMT. Currency percent change calculated from the daily U.S. close at 2130 GMT.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker, additional reporting by Claire Milhench, editing by Alister Doyle) ((karin.strohecker@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427262; Reuters Messaging: karin.strohecker.reuters.com@reuters.net))
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets still felt on Thursday the reverberations of the standoff between Washington and Pyongyang, with stocks extending losses for a second day while currencies fared more mixed.
In a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang that has unnerved regional powers and global investors, North Korea dismissed as a "load of nonsense" warnings by U.S. President Donald Trump that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.
And it outlined detailed plans for a missile strike near the Pacific territory of Guam.
MSCI's emerging market index
Taiwan's bourse
Gains elsewhere failed to offset the Asian losses. Turkey
Investors faced a dilemma in how to price the latest political tensions, said Koon Chow, FX strategist at UBP.
"Most investors will be completely out of their depth in making any assessment on the situation, therefore one shouldn't make a big call on this," he said.
Still, emerging markets would likely face a softer patch as long as the political tensions fuelled investors' risk aversion, he said.
"The moment that shows some kind of abeyance, you will see emerging markets strengthen again," he said, adding developing economies still faced a benign backdrop overall thanks to little sign of monetary tightening by major central banks.
Emerging currencies fared mixed against a slightly stronger dollar
While the South Korean won
However, South Africa's rand
Russia's rouble
The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected, with inflation not a concern even as the economy expands at a solid pace this year.
Central banks in Serbia, Mexico and Peru, also due to publish their decisions on Thursday, are also expected to keep rates unchanged.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see
Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg
on year
Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx
Czech Rep
Poland
Hungary
Romania
Greece
Russia
South Africa
Turkey
China
India
Currencies Latest Prev Local Local
close currency currency
% change % change
in 2017
Czech Rep
Poland
Hungary
Romania
Serbia
Russia
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
South Africa
Kenya
Israel
Turkey
China
India
Brazil
Mexico
Debt Index Strip Spd Chg %Rtn Index
Sov'gn Debt
All data taken from Reuters at 08:51 GMT. Currency percent change calculated from the daily U.S. close at 2130 GMT.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker, additional reporting by Claire Milhench, editing by Alister Doyle) ((karin.strohecker@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427262; Reuters Messaging: karin.strohecker.reuters.com@reuters.net))