MSCI emerging market stocks index enters technical bear market

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - MSCI's widely tracked 24-country emerging market stocks index entered a technical bear market on Wednesday, as fresh selling took its drop since late January to 20 percent.

MSCI estimates that more than $1.9 trillion of assets are benchmarked to the index. Its latest data shows China makes up 33 percent of the index, with other top countries include India, Brazil and Russia at 9 percent, 6 percent and 4 percent respectively.

The sharp drop has come as the threat of a full-blown trade war between China and the United States has scuttled Chinese markets, while political stresses have ramped up in countries like Brazil, Turkey and Argentina, and a strong dollar has hit those who borrow in the currency.

"It is dollar strength, Trump's trade wars and Fed tightening," said Renaissance Capital's global chief economist and head of macro-strategy Charles Robertson. "They are an ugly combination for emerging markets."

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Helen Reid and David Holmes)