* Russia's rouble falls the least in EMEA
* South African rand leads losses despite positive data
* MSCI EM stocks index pares initial gains
* Hungarian forint falls on new COVID-19 curbs
Nov 4 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso and China's yuan led falls among the emerging market currencies seen as most vulnerable to four more years of a Donald Trump White House on Wednesday, as the latest voting tallies quashed bets of a clear victory for Democrat Joe Biden.
After several hours of wild swings on financial markets, a number of developing world stock indexes gained ground, but a rise for the dollar put pressure on other currencies, with South Africa's rand falling 1.4%.
The rouble, which has drawn strength from Trump's commitment to oil and close ties with President Vladimir Putin, was among the more resilient, down just 0.4% after rising in early trade.
The peso, a high-profile sufferer under Trump's
presidency, lost about 2.4% to the dollar, while China's yuan
, a target of U.S. trade ire for nearly three years,
shed 0.5%. South Korea's won
"FX markets had ... priced for a clean Biden win," said
Chris Turner, Global Head Of Markets with Dutch bank ING in
London.
"Instead, early news that Republicans had performed well in
Florida and that exit polls pointed to a much closer race than
had been expected have warned of a return of the Red Wave."
Both Trump and Biden claimed they were on course for victory
after results for a majority of states were called, with Trump
ahead in several mid-West swing states where final counts may
take days.
Emerging market currencies rose in the run-up to the
election, as bets of a clear Biden victory pressured the U.S.
dollar and supported expectations of more fiscal spending that
will stoke growth in the world's biggest economy.
The greenback gained about 1% on Wednesday.
"It's still too early to make a decisive call on the overall
elections, but markets appear to be paring back hopes for the
so-called blue wave," said Han Tan, Market Analyst at FXTM.
"The dollar index’s attempt to reclaim the psychologically
important 94.0 handle is also indicative of the dampened
expectations that the U.S. Senate will adopt an obvious blue
tilt."
For the rand the dollar move overshadowed data
showing the country's factory activity expanded for the first
time in 18 months in October.
Trump's claim on Twitter that the election was being stolen
also dampened the mood, pulling back MSCI's index of emerging
market stocks after early gains.
Still, EMEA stocks held their gains, with Turkish stocks
adding 1.2%, while those in South Africa rose
1%.
In central Europe, Hungary's forint dropped 0.3%
to the euro after the country outlined plans to close
entertainment venues and impose a night-time curfew to try to
curb the coronavirus.
Hungarian stocks added 1.5%.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2020, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2020, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick
Graham and Barbara Lewis)
