EMERGING MARKETS-EM shares climb, currencies firm as US tariff confusion spurs diversification

By Pranav Kashyap

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Most emerging-market stocks advanced on Monday as investors continued to rotate out of U.S. assets, spooked by fresh uncertainty around U.S. tariffs, while Israel moved into focus ahead of an interest-rate decision.

MSCI's index tracking EM stocks .MSCIEF jumped 1%, while the currency equivalent .MIEM00000CUS inched up 0.2%.

What was already a steady shift toward emerging markets got an extra jolt after a series of tariff headlines in the United States when the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, prompting him to announce a new 10% levy on the rest of the world, only to raise it again to 15% soon after.

That continued to weigh on the dollar =USD, giving emerging-market currencies some breathing room.

Across Asia, tech-heavy markets led the charge. Shares in Hong Kong .HSI and South Korea .KS11 posted standout gains as investors braced for Nvidia's earnings later this week, results widely seen as a bellwether not just for the AI trade, but for global risk appetite more broadly.

Analysts remained bullish on emerging markets. The broader EM equity gauge is now on track for monthly gains of more than 3%, with benchmarks in Poland .WIG20, Turkey .XU100, Romania .BETI, and South Africa .JTOPI all pointing higher, even after the markets were rattled this month by selloffs in AI and software names amid mixed economic data. By contrast, the U.S. S&P 500 .SPX is set to finish the month in the red.

Laurence Booth, global head of markets at CMC Markets, said the week ahead could be pivotal with Nvidia's report looming.

"It's not only Nvidia investors who will be nervous ahead of the company’s results; the entire global equity market may be on edge, given the importance of the AI trade."

Stocks in central and eastern Europe on the day saw modest gains, while currencies inched lower.

The Polish zloty was flat, while stocks rose 0.8% following a hot reading of January retail sales.

South African shares .JTOPI jumped 1% as attention shifted to the 2026 national budget, which analysts said was set against a "relatively favourable macroeconomic backdrop." The budget is due later this week.

"The narrative has convincingly shifted from crisis management to a credible, reform-led recovery. Tangible progress in unblocking the key network industries," said Christian Wietoska, head of CEEMEA & LatAm Research at Deutsche Bank.

Vietnam stocks .VNI climbed 2% after Trump said late Friday he would work to remove Hanoi from the lists of countries restricted from accessing U.S. advanced technology.

INTEREST RATE DECISIONS: ISRAEL, NIGERIA, HUNGARY

In Tel Aviv, stocks .TA125 as well as the shekel ILS= were flat ahead of an interest-rate decision where the central bank is expected to cut short-term rates for a third consecutive time.

Still, the cautious tone in markets reflects doubts that Governor Amir Yaron, widely viewed as a gradualist, would deliver three straight cuts while the economy continues to recover from the two-year war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's naira EURNGN= slid to one-week lows against the euro ahead of its own rate decision on Tuesday, while the Hungarian forint gained 0.2%, with its interest rate decision also on Tuesday.

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets nTOPEMRG

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/

For TURKISH market report, see .IS

For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB