“Emerging-market economies probably grew at the fastest pace in nine months in the first quarter as manufacturing rebounded from a slump and services expanded, according to HSBC Plc, which cited a purchasing-managers survey.
The HSBC Emerging Markets Index, which is compiled by London-based Markit Economics and tracks conditions at more than 5,000 reporting companies, advanced to 53.4 from 52.4 in the previous three months, the first increase in three quarters.
“There’s been a gentle improvement and a slight acceleration in economic activity,” Murat Ulgen, HSBC’s London- based chief economist for central and eastern Europe and sub- Saharan Africa, said yesterday in a phone interview. “Despite all the problems in the West — subdued growth and unemployment — emerging nations are generally immune and holding up well.”
Emerging markets will continue to benefit from productivity gains and better access to capital, HSBC said. Governments there also have more room than their developed-world counterparts for fiscal stimulus while central banks are shifting focus to supporting growth from curbing inflation as price increases ease, except in India, it said….”
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