* Stocks hit 6-mth high after LTRO, debt spreads widen
* Rand hits 5-mth high vs dlr, zloty 6-mth high vs euro
* Russian assets firm, Serbian dinar near record low
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) – Emerging stocks rose more
than 1 percent to their highest since early August on Wednesday,
following a high take-up for the European Central Bank’s cheap
loan offer, and the rand and zloty hit multi-month highs.
A total of 800 banks borrowed almost 530 billion euros in
the ECB’s second long-term refinancing operation (LTRO),
bringing the sum of the combined operations to more than 1
trillion euros.
Much of that extra cash is expected to find its way into
higher-yielding emerging markets.
“The LTRO amount is a little bit bigger than the market was
expecting … that’s quite supportive for emerging markets,”
said Sebastian Barbe, head of emerging markets FX and fixed
income strategy at Credit Agricole in Paris.
“I don’t think it will last too long as the rally has been
so strong since start of the year, plus we have the oil prices.”
Continued…
