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Emerging-Market Investors May Want to Skip Next Month
August has historically been the worst month for developing nation stocks
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The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has fallen in August for seven of the last 10 years, with an average decline of 2.5 percent, the largest for any month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Liquidity tends to tighten with minimal trading during the summer months, said Ben Luk, a global macro strategist in Hong Kong at State Street Global Markets. The August phenomenon, in addition to concerns over trade friction between the U.S. and China, amid prospects for tighter monetary policies by global central banks, have prompted State Street to be cautious on Asian equities, he said.