Stocks up slightly, FX steady as investors assess Fed minutes -January 04, 2024 at 04:45 am EST

* China’s services activity expands

* Hungarian forint extends gains for fourth day

* Stocks up 0.2%, FX muted

Jan 4 (Reuters) – Emerging market stocks edged up on
Thursday after a poor start to 2024, while currencies were
little changed as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve’s
latest minutes even as it offered little clarity on the timeline
for interest rate cuts.

The MSCI’s gauge of emerging market stocks was up
0.2% at 0920 GMT, while a basket of currencies
was muted against the U.S. dollar.

Minutes of the Fed’s December policy meeting released on
Wednesday reflected a growing sense that inflation is under
control and growing concern about the risks that “overly
restrictive” monetary policy may pose to the economy.

However, the minutes did not provide direct clues about when
rate cuts might commence.

The dollar index was down slightly and the benchmark
10-year U.S. Treasury yield was last at 3.9366%, having ended at
3.9070% on Wednesday.

“Modest pullback in U.S. Treasury yields dented the USD
bullish momentum and provided emerging markets (EM) assets with
a fresh boost,” said Piotr Matys, senior FX analyst at In Touch
Capital Markets.

“Investors continue to trade the goldilocks scenario of a
soft landing of the U.S. economy expecting the Fed to start
cutting interest rates perhaps as soon as in March. As long as
this scenario remains valid – incoming U.S. data will be crucial
– capital inflows into EM should continue,” Matys added.

Across Asia, India’s blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 rose
0.6%, while Chinese shares fell 0.4%.

China’s services activity expanded at the fastest pace in
five months thanks to a solid rise in new business, a
private-sector survey showed.

Turkey’s lira extended its declines and touched
a fresh low of 29.7975, edging closer to the 30 per dollar mark.

The South African rand gained 0.6%, rebounding after
two straight days of declines.

Across Europe, the Hungarian forint rose 0.3%
against the euro, extending gains to the fourth consecutive
session, while the Polish zloty and the Czech crown
were steady.

The Russian rouble recovered losses from the
previous session to gain 0.7% against the greenback.

In South America, a top Argentine court on Wednesday
suspended a package of labour reforms decreed by new President
Javier Milei last month, after the nation’s largest union filed
an injunction.

Going into 2024, emerging markets are gearing up for their
biggest election year in decades, with investors focused on
fiscal discipline and populist shifts that could stir markets
and blur the outlook for some key economies.
(Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru
Editing by Mark Potter)