(Bloomberg) — Emerging-market stocks climbed to a two-week high as Chinese financial shares surged on brokerage recommendations and rising gold prices lifted producers. Kazakhstan's tenge tumbled after the nation's central bank devalued the currency.
China Minsheng Banking Corp. and China Construction Bank Corp. rose at least 3.1 percent in Hong Kong after JPMorgan Chase & Co. recommended buying the nation's lenders. Harmony Gold Mining Co. added 2.2 percent in Johannesburg as gold rallied to the highest level since November. Kazakhstan's currency tumbled 16 percent to 185.89 tenge per dollar.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.6 percent to 941.21 as of 4:10 p.m. in Hong Kong, poised for the highest close since Jan. 24. Chinese stocks will probably rally as much as 20 percent in the coming weeks as gauges of economic growth stabilize and valuations rise from historic lows, JPMorgan said. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein said China's economic growth will have "huge consequences" for global expansion prospects.
"The JPMorgan report is a trigger point for investors to come in after some disappointing economic data recently," Jeffrosenberg Tan, a fund manager at Jakarta-based PT Sinarmas Asset Management, said by phone today.
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen will deliver her first semi-annual monetary-policy testimony as investors weigh the pace of stimulus reductions against data this week that may show U.S. retail sales stalled while jobless claims declined.
