* Emerging stocks almost flat
* Ukraine CDS leaps 30 bps
* Zloty gains 0.4 pct, CDS at 7-mth lows
By Philip Baillie
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) – Emerging stocks held
steady on Thursday but sovereign debt spreads tightened as
investors poured out of safe-haven U.S. Treasuries, while
Ukrainian debt insurance costs leapt on the country’s IMF debt
restructuring talks.
Emerging sovereign debt spreads tightened to their
narrowest in seven months for a second day, at 295 basis points,
as market players divested out of U.S. Treasuries, where yields
hit fresh 4-1/2 month highs, and into riskier assets.
“The market is reassessing the U.S. monetary and fiscal
outlook, but there is still plenty of liquidity and yields are
still higher in emerging markets,” said Gaelle Blanchard,
emerging markets strategist at Societe Generale.
“It’s adjusting a little bit but is not really in a risk-off
environment.”
Also supporting risk appetite, the Chicago Board Options
Exchange Market Volatility Index, which is used as a
proxy gauge of volatility in global markets, was at 15.31, near
to lows of 14.62 not seen since April last year.
Continued…
