BENGALURU: Emerging market assets were broadly steady on Thursday, following a rally earlier in the week, while investors keenly awaited peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled to take place in Istanbul.
The MSCI’s gauge for emerging markets stocks was muted, pausing after a 3% rise earlier in the week that was primarily aided by signs of de-escalating trade tensions between the US and its trade partners such as China and the UK.
The currencies index was flat against the greenback as traders looked for signs of new trade deals.
The South Korean won firmed 0.8%, outperforming regional peers for the second-straight day after the country said it discussed the currency market with the US last week.
The won’s moves brought back to memory the Taiwanese dollar’s unprecedented advances last week, but the Korean currency’s gain was tempered by a report that said Washington was not seeking dollar depreciation as part of trade negotiations.
Potential trade deals with Japan, India and other Southeast Asian economies were also in focus.
“As we go into the bilateral trade deals, they will try and strike unique deals with every country, but there could be ingredients which are similar across the different countries such as reducing trans-shipments and strengthening rules of origin,” said Lavanya Venkateswaran, senior economist at OCBC Bank.
Kyiv’s dollar bonds maturing in 2034 and 2036 slipped about one cent on the dollar after it was clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in person.