* Stocks head for worst weekly fall since mid-December
* Turkish lira rises, bond yields at end-Jan highs on c.bank
* Hungary mulls Eurobond before IMF deal
By Philip Baillie
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) – Emerging stocks hit two-week
lows on Friday, extending a six-session slide caused by weaker
economic data in China and rising U.S. bond yields while Turkish
monetary tightening boosted the lira and local debt yields.
MSCI’s emerging equities index hovered around
flat by 1120 GMT, headed for its biggest one-week loss since
mid-December.
Markets have stepped back from a relief rally in the first
two months of the year, spurred by weaker manufacturing data
from China on Thursday, which dented investors’ optimism over
growth. The worries were compounded by weaker manufacturing data
from Germany, key for growth in emerging Europe.
“The Chinese theme will be with us for a long time there is
clearly a slowdown though I would classify that more as a soft
landing,” said Luis Costa head of CEEMEA currency and debt
strategy at Citi. “It’s a moment to be net positive but not as
long risk as in February when things looked more clear.”
Continued…
