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 bounced sharply this week on hopes of a softening in trade tensions. The S&P 500 gained +4.6%, while the Euro Stoxx 50 and emerging-market (EM) equities made +4.4% and +2.8%, respectively. The US rates curve twist steepened, with 2-year yields 3 basis points (bps) lower and 30-year yields 1bp higher. Meanwhile, US real yields moved 12bps lower in the 10-year point, to end the week at 1.97%.
In EM credit markets, spreads were 8bps tighter in corporates and 12bps tighter in sovereigns while total returns were +0.8% for corporates and +1.3% for sovereigns. In EM corporates, outperformance came from the transport and metals and mining sectors, while the financials sector lagged. In the sovereign space, high-yield names continued to rebound, with parts of Africa performing well, alongside Argentina.
In EM local markets, total returns were +1.2%, with both foreign exchange (FX) and rates contributing. In terms of regional performance, FX in Latin America was particularly solid. In the rates space, South Africa and Colombia were standout performers.
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