EM equities extend gains; South Africa politics in focus
Soft U.S. data lifts rate cut hopes
Rand stabilises after two-day selloff
CEE currencies dip vs euro ahead of ECB
By Sruthi Shankar
June 6 (Reuters) -Emerging market equities extended gains on Thursday, as soft U.S. labour market data renewed bets of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year, while investors assessed the political path in major economies following a slew of elections.
The MSCI's index of EM equities .MSCIEF climbed 0.9%, rising for a second session as U.S. Treasury yields came under pressure after data pointed to a moderating labour market.
The dollar slipped against major currencies as investors priced in nearly 50 basis points of rate cuts from the Fed this year, with the first expected to come in September.
The South African rand ZAR=D3 rose slightly to 18.89 per dollar, after touching a six-week low on Wednesday on concerns about who the African National Congress would form a coalition with, after it lost its majority for the first time in 30 years in last week's election.
The ANC is leaning towards trying to form a government of national unity for South Africa, it said on Wednesday, but the second-largest party said it would not join a government that included some of its smaller rivals.
"The option of a coalition with EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) and MK (uMkhonto we Sizwe) implies a big shift...many things will be very complicated for the mining sector that will have a big cost for the budget," said Sergi Lanau, director of global EM strategy at Oxford Economics.
"If it's with the Democratic Alliance and other small parties, then it's a government that mixes a bit of everything. It would be a relief for markets and over the next few years it would most likely be a status quo."
The Indian rupee INR= slipped, while the Mexican peso MXN= strengthened in volatile trading sparked by their respective election outcomes this week.
In Central and Eastern Europe, the Hungarian forint EURHUF= and the Polish zloty EURPLN= dipped against the euro ahead of the European Central Bank's policy decision, which is widely expected to be a rate cut.
Currencies in the region hit multi-month or multi-year highs in May amid signs of an economic recovery as central banks continue to pause or look to slow interest rate cuts.
Poland's central bank left its main interest rate on hold at 5.75% on Wednesday as expected. The National Bank of Poland's Governor Adam Glapinski is set to host a press conference later in the day.
Stock markets in Budapest .BUX, Warsaw WIG20 and Prague .PX rose marginally, tracking a positive mood in Europe.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Putin says Russia could deploy missiles in striking distance of the West
** Hungary has no plans to stop buying gas from Russia, minister says
** Unwinding of hugely popular currency trade rocks markets
For TOP NEWS across emerging markets nTOPEMRG
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/
For TURKISH market report, see .IS
For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2024 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2024 https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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