Senior Portfolio Manager Anthony Kettle’s weekly BlueBay Emerging Market Debt commentary offers readers a concise yet wide-ranging macro overview. Kettle covers markets large and small, providing insight on how financial, political, and economic developments in one region affect markets elsewhere. Here is his latest insight.
Summary
Risk markets consolidated this week as mixed US data prints, such as a weak ADP but a stronger jobless claims number, created a mixed macro picture. This resulted in the S&P 500 gaining +0.3% and the Euro Stoxx 50 gaining +1.0%, while emerging markets (EM) equities gained +1.4%. The US rates curve bear steepened with 5-year yields rising 11 basis points (bps) and 30-year yields rising 13bps. 10-year US real rates climbed 9bps to end the week at 1.85%.
In EM credit markets, spreads were -7bps tighter for corporates and -12bps tighter for sovereigns, while total returns were flat and up +0.1% respectively. In the corporate space, the pulp & paper and metals & mining sectors outperformed, while the telecommunications and real estate sectors underperformed. In the sovereign space, the notable performers were Zambia and Gabon. The biggest underperformers were Ukraine, Senegal, and Malaysia.
In the EM local markets, returns were up +0.4% with foreign exchange (FX) contributing +0.2% and rates +0.2%. In the FX space, outperformers were the South African rand, Uruguayan peso, and Chilean peso, while underperformers were the Colombian peso and Dominican peso. Meanwhile, in the rates space, Colombia, Turkey, and South Africa outperformed, while Brazil and the Dominican Republic underperformed.
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