Emerging stocks fall to 4-month low on weak data, bird flu threat

Emerging stocks fell to a four-month low as US jobs data missed forecasts and the threat of a bird flu epidemic sent Chinese airlines tumbling. The MSCI BRIC Index dropped 10 percent from this year's peak.

China Southern Airlines Co sank 8.5 percent in Hong Kong, while Hyundai Motor Co led losses in Seoul as the risk of conflict with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea spurred capital outflows. Russian shares dropped for a third week as OAO Mobile TeleSystems slumped on concern the country's largest mobile provider will lose market share. Brazil's Bovespa index erased an earlier decline as utility Cia Paranaense de Energia jumped 8.3 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slipped 0.9 percent to 1008.13 in New York, extending its weekly slump to 2.6 percent. Stocks fell on data showing United States' employers hired fewer workers than forecast in March, while international investors sold the most South Korean equities since May. Six people have died from a new strain of bird flu in China.

"Markets hate uncertainty," said Martin Schulz, head of international equities at PNC Capital Advisors LLC in Cleveland. His firm manages about $35 billion. "The big concern is that the payroll number just highlights that the US is still in a deflationary post-crisis scenario."

The MSCI BRIC Index of stocks in the biggest emerging markets posted a drop that would classify as a correction to some investors. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund fell 0.2 percent to $41.61. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index, a measure of options prices on the fund and expectations of price swings, lost 0.3 percent to 19.15.

All 10 industry groups in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped, led by a gauge of consumer discretionary companies. The broader index has lost 4.5 percent this year, compared with a 6 percent gain in the MSCI World Index of developed-country stocks. The developing-nations measure trades at 10.5 times estimated 12-month earnings, compared with the MSCI World's multiple of 13.7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Brazil's Bovespa rose 0.7 percent. Copel, as the electrical utility is known, had the biggest gain since 2008.

The Micex Index dropped 0.7 percent to the lowest level since Dec 4. Mobile TeleSystems, also known as MTS, tumbled 3.4 percent. VTB Group, Russia's second-biggest lender, said on March 4 it had completed a $3.55 billion acquisition of Swedish Tele2's wireless business in Russia, fueling speculation the unit will be sold to state-run OAO Rostelecom.