Emerging markets assets mixed as Middle East tensions offset Asian tech strength

HIGHLIGHTS: - Rubio holds talks with China's Wang Yi as regional powers join ASEAN meet - Indonesia sets price guidance for $1 billion panda bond sale - South Korean industry minister heads to US as tariff decision looms For TOP NEWS across emerging markets nTOPEMRG For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/ For TURKISH market report, see .IS For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB MSCI's index tracking Central and Eastern Europe .MIME00000PUS gained 0.3%. Polish .WIG stocks rose 0.5%, while energy-laden Romanian equities .BETI advanced 1.3%, the most in the region. Hungary's .BUX slipped 0.3%, bucking the trend. Among currencies in the region, the Hungarian forint EURHUF= dropped 1.1% against the euro, heading for its biggest single-day drop in four months after the country's central bank announced a widely expected quarter point rate cut on Tuesday, while adding that there was room for a further decrease through the summer months. The Polish zloty EURPLN= declined 0.1%. Turkish equities .XU100 edged 0.2% higher, while the lira TRYTOM=D3 was muted. Most Asian currencies traded range-bound, while South Africa's rand ZAR= edged 0.2% higher after data showed inflation accelerated faster than expected in June compared to the same month last year. "This large rise in inflation, coupled with the renewed rises in oil prices, increases the risks that the interest rate hike of 25bp to 7.25% that we expect tomorrow is not the last," said David Omojomolo, Africa economist at Capital Economics. South Africa's equities benchmark .JTOPI rose 0.3%, tracking prices of precious metals. Indonesia's central bank kept policy rates unchanged on Wednesday, defying market expectations of another rate hike following back-to-back increases. Kenya's finance ministry forecast a narrower budget deficit in its July 2027 to June 2028 budget. Separately, an interest rate decision from Ghana's central bank is expected later in the day. Emerging market equities traded in a range on Wednesday as gains in tech-heavy Asian indexes were balanced out by concerns over rising oil prices, while currencies were mixed against a steady dollar. Oil prices extended gains for a fourth straight session, touching a six-week high as escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities and disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea -- a critical alternative route for oil shipping in the region -- accentuated concerns over global energy supplies. O/R MSCI's global EM stocks index .MSCIEF slipped 0.2% after sharp gains in the previous session and the currencies gauge .MIEM00000CUS declined by the same quantum against the U.S. dollar. Rising oil prices put pressure on broader Asian equities, though an overnight recovery in Wall Street's chip stocks ahead of results from Alphabet GOOGL.O and Tesla TSLA.O supported tech-heavy bourses in the region. "The bar for disappointment is quite low," said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, senior market analyst at XM Trading, "Any signs of weakness in the outlook and/or AI investment could prompt a significant drop in risk appetite." South Korean shares .KS11 and Taiwan's benchmark index .TWII rose 0.7% and 1.3%, respectively, while Chinese equities .CSI300 were down 0.4%.

Emerging markets assets mixed as Middle East tensions offset Asian tech strength

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