“Emerging-market stocks fell, snapping the longest rally since October 2011 for the benchmark index, as Apple Inc. (AAPL) suppliers tumbled on iPhone sale concerns and the U.S. budget standoff reduced risk appetite.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317), which assembles iPhones in Taipei, slumped the most since April. OAO Mechel, Russia’s biggest coking-coal producer, headed for the highest close since October 24 after a report signaled manufacturing may expand at a faster pace this month in China. Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA rose to the highest since April 2008 after UniCredit SpA upgraded the stock.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 0.3 percent to 1,039.37 at 10:15 a.m. in London, halting eight days of gains. The gauge has jumped 13.4 percent this year. Apple suppliers slumped after Citigroup Inc. cut estimates for iPhone shipments and downgraded the Cupertino, California-based company’s stock rating. U.S. lawmakers haven’t reached a deal with two weeks remaining to avert more than $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases, known as the fiscal cliff.
“It’s been a good run,” Aurelija Augulyte, emerging- markets strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Copenhagen, said by e- mail. “Fiscal cliff still remains a concern, so investors would rather take profits now.”
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