US rate hikes, stronger dollar, trade war - biggest risks for EMs in 2019

Brent crude's plunge since early October to below $55 a barrel is bad news for many major developing economies, not the least Saudi Arabia

Emerging markets are tentatively picking themselves up from the floor after a rout that’s wiped about $5 trillion off the value of stocks since a high in January 2018. But the reprieve may not last long.

Rising rates in the US, a stronger dollar, Beijing and Washington’s trade war, lower oil prices and the emergence of populist leaders in Latin America’s two biggest economies could all weigh on markets.

“The theory is dead simple: emerging-market assets have already bombed, so the downside, if things get worse, is much lower and if things recover they have greater potential to perform,” said