Emerging currencies climb to 5-week high on US jobs, oil gains

The ruble climbed for a fourth day against the dollar, extending this year's biggest appreciation globally, as Brent crude rebounded as much as 3.6 percent to $56.90 a barrel. Sberbank led shares in Moscow higher while Saudi Basic Industries Corp. climbed for the first time in three days in Riyadh. The Malaysian ringgit and Brazilian real increased at least 0.9 percent. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. surged to a record in Mumbai.

An index tracking 20 developing-nation currencies added 0.4 percent by 1:21 p.m. in London. The measure jumped 1.2 percent last week, its second-best performance in a year-and-a-half, after payrolls data became the latest U.S. statistic to trail estimates, helping boost appetite for riskier assets. U.S. employers added the least jobs since December 2013. "Weak U.S. macroeconomic data gives investors hope that the Fed will hike rates later rather than sooner," Vladimir Vedeneev, the chief investment officer at Raiffeisen Capital Asset Management in Moscow, said by email. "We're seeing a reversal of the strong capital outflows from emerging markets into U.S. assets. Oil seems to have found a fragile balance, which is positive."

Investors added $561.5 million to U.S. exchange-traded funds that buy emerging-market stocks and bonds for the third straight week, led by accelerating flows into China and Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In the first quarter, the funds lost $1.6 billion.

Brent recovers

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.9 percent to 1,003.64 on Monday, its sixth day of increases. Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Poland were among exchanges shut on Monday for holidays. Brent, the benchmark used to price Russia's main export blend, has moved between a low of $52.50 a barrel and a high of $63 a barrel in the past two months after sliding to a six-year low of $45.19 in January. It gained on Monday as Saudi Arabia raised prices for shipments to Asia. The advance helped boost assets in oil-exporting countries, with the ruble appreciating 1.1 percent to 55.97 per dollar and the ringgit climbing to a one-month high of 3.6315. Malaysia is Asia's only major oil exporter.

Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, added 1.8 percent in Moscow. Sabic climbed 0.9 percent in Riyadh. Stock indexes in Dubai and India advanced at least 0.9 percent.

More expensive

All 10 industry groups in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased, paced by healthcare and technology companies. Sun Pharmaceutical surged 8.2 percent. A 4.8 percent rally in the developing-country gauge has driven its 12-month projected price-to-earnings ratio to 12.1, a five-year high. That is a 28 percent discount to the MSCI World Index. Samsung Electronics Co. climbed the most since March 11. The company's first-quarter operating profit probably rose more than 5 percent from the fourth quarter, Korea Economic Daily reported. The company is due to release earnings on Tuesday. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 0.8 percent to a record as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. advanced the most in two months.