NEW DELHI, July 8 — Emerging-market stocks fell for a second day, currencies weakened while government bond yields climbed after US payroll gains in June spurred speculation the Federal Reserve may pare stimulus this year.

Zijin Mining Group Co. led a 2.5 per cent slump in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and benchmark gauges in the Philippines and Indonesia sank more than two per cent. The won and Malaysia’s ringgit declined 0.8 per cent against the dollar while the Indian rupee tumbled to a record low. Yields on South Korean and Thai bonds gained.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 1.4 per cent to 904.91 as of 1:16pm in Hong Kong, the lowest level since June 26. US employers added more workers than economists expected in June, July 5 data showed, fuelling expectations the Fed will be able to reduce asset purchases that sparked capital flows into emerging markets.

“The good news for the US from its employment data is actually not so good news for capital markets in emerging countries,” Akbar Syarief, a fund manager overseeing about 3.3 trillion rupiah (RM993 million) at MNC Asset Management, said in Jakarta. “The data has raised speculation that the Fed will really put an end to the quantitative easing soon.”

The developing-nation gauge has tumbled 14 per cent since Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled May 22 that the central bank’s asset-buying program could be cut should the job market continue to improve.

HTC slumps

HTC Corp. sank 6.9 per cent in Taipei after posting profit that missed analyst estimates. Asiana Airlines Inc. slumped the most since December 2011 in Seoul after its worst plane crash in two decades. China Vanke Co. retreated 2.6 per cent in Shenzhen as developers declined. The nation’s regulator rejected as untrue rumours that financing rules would be eased for property companies, the Securities Times reported.

The Hang Seng index of mainland stocks traded in Hong Kong fell for the first time in three days. Zijin tumbled 7.6 per cent after saying first-half profit may fall as much as 55 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.7 per cent, the most in two weeks as indexes tracking energy and industrial companies slid to the lowest levels since November 2008.

China’s money-market cash squeeze is likely to reduce credit growth this year by 750 billion yuan, an amount equivalent to the size of Vietnam’s economy, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

June credit data due as soon as this week will give investors clues to how much the cash squeeze is affecting the world’s second-biggest economy.

Philippines drops

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index tumbled 2.6 per cent, the most since June 25, led by declines in Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and Robinsons Land Corp. The Jakarta Composite Index lost 2.6 per cent as banks and property developers sank on expectations Indonesia’s central bank will raise interest rates.

The rupee fell 1.5 per cent and led losses among Asia’s 11 most traded currencies. India’s benchmark stock index tumbled 1.2 per cent. Global funds have pulled US$7.6 billion from Indian bonds since holdings touched an all-time high on May 21.

The yield on South Korea’s 2.75 per cent bonds due June 2016 climbed 11 basis points to 3.09 per cent, the biggest increase since July 1, prices from Korea Exchange Inc. show. The yield on the 3.125 per cent Thai notes due December 2015 climbed three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 2.93 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Biggest declines

All 10 industry groups in MSCI’s developing-nation index sank, with gauges of technology and financial companies sliding at least 1.5 per cent.

HTC, Taiwan’s largest smartphone maker, retreated the most since October 29. The company posted second-quarter profit on July 5 that missed analyst estimates as the release of its flagship One handset failed to reverse a slide in sales.

South Korea’s Kospi index declined one per cent to the lowest level since June 26. Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second- biggest carrier, slumped 5.2 per cent. Two people died and more than 300 escaped down emergency exits, before a fire swept through Asiana’s Boeing Co. 777 plane while landing in San Francisco July 6. It was the first fatal passenger crash by a South Korean airliner since 1997.

Trading volumes for benchmark measures in Malaysia and Indonesia were at least 41 per cent below the 30-day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

MSCI’s developing-nation gauge has lost 14 per cent this year, compared with an 8.1 per cent increase in the MSCI World Index of developed-nation shares. The emerging-market index is valued at 9.5 times 12-month estimated earnings, compared with 13.3 times for the MSCI World, data compiled by Bloomberg show. — Bloomberg