Emerging-Market Contagion Fear Sparks Deepening Rout: Inside EM
- Rand sinks as South Africa enters recession in second quarter
- Developing-nation currencies set for lowest since May 2017
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Emerging markets sold off anew Tuesday as South Africa entered a recession and Indonesia’s rupiah joined currencies from Turkey to Argentina in tumbling toward record lows, reinforcing concern that contagion risks are too big to ignore.
MSCI Inc.’s index of currencies dropped for a fifth time in six days, the lowest close in more than a year. The rand led global declines as data showed the economy fell into a recession last quarter. Turkey’s lira slid on worry the central bank will disappoint investors at its rate meeting next week, while the Argentine peso slumped to a record and Indonesia’s rupiah sank to the lowest in two decades even after the central bank intensified its fight to protect it.