(Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks pared gains after better-than-estimated U.S. economic reports fueled concern the Federal Reserve will cut monetary stimulus. The rand sank amid the longest South African bond selloff in 15 years.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.1 percent to 996.28 at 9:35 a.m. in New York after rising 0.3 percent earlier. India’s S&P BSE Sensex of stocks jumped to a one-month high as ICICI Bank Ltd. surged 6.5 percent, while steelmaker Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA paced a rally in Brazil’s Ibovespa. Foreign investors dumped South African bonds for an 11th straight day yesterday, the longest streak since June 1998, according to JSE Ltd. data compiled by Bloomberg.
The U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter at a faster pace than initially reported, while applications for U.S. employment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than two months. The gauge for stocks in developing nations has slid as much as 16 percent since May 22, when the U.S. central bank signaled its asset-buying program could be trimmed if the economy showed sustained improvement.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund declined 0.3 percent to $41.16. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index, a measure of options prices on the fund and expectations of price swings, rose 1.8 percent to 26.49.
The premium investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries fell two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 334 basis points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
