“Emerging-market stocks rose for a second day as brokerages advised buying shares in South Korea and Thailand, offsetting concern that Chinese efforts to cool property prices will curb economic growth.
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), South Korea’s biggest company, climbed to its highest level in more than a week after Credit Suisse Group AG said the nation’s stocks are under-owned by overseas investors. Kasikornbank Pcl (KBANK) gained 2.4 percent in Bangkok as Deutsche Bank AG said a drop in Thai shares is an opportunity to buy. Agile Property Holdings Ltd. (3383) slid 1.3 percent in Hong Kong after a report banks have started to control the scale of loans for real estate development.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,025.98 as of 4:27 p.m. in Hong Kong. South Korea’s economy expanded last quarter at the slowest pace since the global recession, a report showed, underscoring the case for stimulus. Equities in Europe and the U.S. fell yesterday amid concern that Cyprus’s bailout plan will be used as a model in other euro-area nations.
“Concerns that Cyprus’s bailout plan will be used as a template for others are overdone,” Chu Moon Sung, fund manager at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., which oversees about $29 billion, said by phone in Seoul. “Recovery signals in the U.S. make me hold a positive view on emerging markets. News flow on China’s property curbs could weigh on sentiment in the short term.”
