Emerging-market stocks have erased their gains for 2026 as an energy crisis sparked by the Middle East war threatens to sap growth and accelerate inflation across the developing world.The benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell as much as 0.9% on Tuesday, surrendering year-to-date advances that had exceeded 15% at one point. MSCI's Asia gauge also briefly wiped out its advance for 2026, with Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. among the biggest drags.
The milestones highlight the sharp turn of fortune for developing markets, particularly Asia, which had started the year on a tear as investors continued to pile into the region's artificial intelligence infrastructure stocks. While the initial selloff was concentrated in countries that rely on energy imports, concerns about the war's impact on the global economy is sparking a wider contagion.
Asian, EM Stocks Have Their 2026 Gains Wiped Out
Photo Credit: (Photo: Bloomberg)
The MSCI Asia gauge climbed 15% from the start of the year to its record high on Feb. 27, far outpacing global equities. The gain has evaporated as an outlook for tighter monetary policy and crimped supply of key materials drives a rethink of the growth thesis.
“The market is taking risk off the table,” and Asian indexes that have been running up high over the last year-plus are getting hammered, said Francis Tan, chief Asia strategist at CA Indosuez Wealth Asset Management. “Growth stocks, which are largely tech stocks, will be impacted by investors' revision of their Fed rate expectations.”
While US President Donald Trump's earlier assertions about talks with Tehran had briefly raised hopes of a negotiated settlement, all sides have hardened their positions since then. Tensions escalated on Tuesday as Iran hit a fully laden Kuwaiti oil tanker in the anchorage area of Dubai's port, damaging the hull and starting a fire on board.
Asian economies including South Korea, Japan and India are especially vulnerable to oil shocks given their heavy reliance on Middle East countries for imported energy. That has traders worrying about the negative impacts of higher costs on corporate profits and higher interest rates to tame inflation.
All but 16 of the 92 major benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg globally have declined this month. Indexes in Asia are among the worst performers, with Korea's Kospi losing about 18% and Indonesia nearly 14%.
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