Emerging-Market Stocks, Currencies Climb on Economy; Bond Yields Decline
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Jeff Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates, which manages $235 billion in St. Petersburg, Florida, talks about the outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy. U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for the fifth time in six days, as concern eased that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will derail the global economic recovery. Saut talks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Emerging-market stocks climbed for the first time in three days and currencies strengthened as Philippine exports and Australian jobs rose more than economists estimated, easing concern that the global recovery will falter.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 0.2 percent to 1,006.63 at 7:33 a.m. in London. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained for an eighth day and closed at an all-time high, while the peso added 0.5 percent to the strongest level in two years versus the dollar. The extra yield on emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries fell 2 basis points to 2.89 percentage points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI+ Index.
The Philippine equity benchmark jumped 2.6 percent after the National Statistics Office said shipments abroad rose 35.9 percent from a year earlier, topping the 29.3 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Australian employers added 30,900 workers in August, beating the 25,000 median estimate. The reports added to investor optimism spurred yesterday by rising demand for Portuguese and Polish debt.
“You’re going to get slow economic growth, but no double dip,” Jeff Saut, who helps oversee about $235 billion as the chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates, said on Bloomberg Television from St. Petersburg, Florida. “There’s not a whole lot of downside” for stocks, he said.
2010 Gain
The MSCI emerging index has climbed 1.7 percent this year as signs of resilient economic growth in Asia and rising earnings outweighed speculation that the U.S. economy may slip back into a recession. The 21-country stock index is still down 3.9 percent from this year’s high on April 15, compared with a 9.1 percent decline in the MSCI World Index of developed-nation shares in the period.
The Philippine stock index jumped the most since May 28 as shares of Ayala Land Inc., the nation’s biggest builder, and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest Philippine bank by assets, climbed more than 5 percent.
Philippine exports increased for a ninth month in July as the global economic recovery sustained demand for the nation’s semiconductors and other electronics goods, the National Statistics Office report showed. The country’s equity gauge will rally at least 16 percent by the end of 2011 on a “bright” earnings outlook and falling bond yields, JPMorgan analysts led by Gilbert Lopez said in a report yesterday.
Kospi Rally
South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 0.3 percent and the won strengthened 0.4 percent against the dollar. The Bank of Korea unexpectedly left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and said it will focus on ensuring stable prices and sustained growth under an accommodative monetary policy.
Thailand’s SET Index climbed 0.3 percent and the baht appreciated 0.5 percent versus the U.S. currency. Consumer confidence climbed to a 28-month high in August on rising exports and local demand, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said in a statement in Bangkok today.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.1 percent, the most in two weeks, as rising property prices fueled concern the government will step up measures to curb speculation. China Vanke Co. and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. led declines by developers and banks as Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said the government may further tighten anti-speculation measures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Patterson in Hong Kong at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.
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