Oil Stokes Risks in ‘Close-Your-Eyes-and-Sell’ Emerging Markets
- Mexican peso, South African rand slide more than 7% on Monday
- Oil markets slump more than 30%, Asian stocks tumble
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Tumbling oil prices are adding a fresh ingredient to the coronavirus-fueled nervousness sweeping emerging markets, setting the stage for another week of turmoil.
Brent slumped as much as 31% on Monday, Asian stocks nosedived and currencies from the Mexican peso to South African rand weakened after the world’s biggest crude producers failed to agree on production cuts last week, kicking off a price war. The declines extend a sell-off that overtook developing-nation markets at the end of last week as policy makers struggled to stave off the economic fallout from the spreading virus.