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 recovered this week as positive news around trade and a supportive earnings backdrop outweighed lingering concerns around the US regional bank space. This resulted in the S&P 500 gaining +1.7% and the Euro Stoxx 50 gaining +1.4%, while emerging markets (EM) equities lost -0.3%. The US rates curve bull steepened with 5-year yields 3 basis points (bps) lower and 30-year yields 1bp lower. 10-year US real rates were 2bps higher to end the week at 1.74%.
In EM credit markets, spreads were 4bps wider for corporates and 4bps tighter for sovereigns, while total returns were up +0.2% and +0.6%, respectively. In the corporate space, the pulp & paper and metal & mining sectors outperformed, while infrastructure and banks underperformed. In the sovereign space the notable performers were Venezuela, due to increased US pressure on the Maduro regime, Bolivia and Ukraine. The biggest underperformers were Argentina, ahead of the midterm elections, along with Mozambique and Gabon.
In the EM local markets, returns were up +0.7% with foreign exchange (FX) contributing +0.4% and rates +0.3%. In the FX space, outperformers were the Colombian peso, Peruvian sol, and Polish zloty, and underperformers were the Chilean peso, Dominican peso, and South African rand. In the rates space, Indonesia and Romania outperformed, while Thailand and Turkey underperformed.
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