EMERGING MARKETS-EM stocks climb after tech-led selloff, Thailand rallies on election result

By Pranav Kashyap

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Most emerging market stocks rebounded on Monday after last week's bruising, tech-led selloff, while Thai stocks, the baht and bonds rallied after a clear election win.

MSCI's index tracking global EM stocks .MSCIEF gained for the first time in three sessions, up 1.9%, and touched its highest level in over one-week, while the currencies equivalent .MIEM00000CUS ticked up 0.3%.

From Asia through Europe, equities climbed broadly after a volatile stretch dominated by heavy losses in technology shares. Monday's move built on Friday's Wall Street rebound, helping stabilise sentiment after the prior week's whiplash.

In central and eastern Europe, Ukraine's international dollar bonds ticked up following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, when he said "very good talks" were underway on Russia's war in Ukraine and hinted that "something could be happening," without providing details.

Regional stock benchmarks in Poland .WIG20, Hungary .BUX, Romania .BETI, and the Czech Republic .PX posted gains of roughly 0.4% to 1%. Currencies, however, mostly slipped slightly versus the euro. Romania's GDP figures and Poland's flash inflation data are both due on Friday.

Hungary's forint EURHUF= opened at its strongest level since November 2023, but later gave back ground and was down about 0.4%. Investors are looking ahead to an inflation read and the central bank's January meeting minutes, due later this week.

A sharp drop in inflation is widely expected - an outcome that could give policymakers room to consider cutting interest rates when they meet in late February.

"The beginning of this week will be quiet in the CEE region, and we will have to wait until Thursday for the first interesting data release," said Frantisek Taborsky EMEA FX & FI strategist at ING.

"The market remains in similar ranges to those we have seen since the beginning of the year."

Turkey's lira TRY= swung from an over two-week high against the dollar to hover near a record low touched in the previous session as the country braces for an inflation report from the central bank. Istanbul equities .XU100 moved the other way - jumping 3%.

Across emerging markets, most currencies firmed against the dollar as the greenback struggled to gain traction, giving some breathing room ahead of key U.S. data through the week.

Traders also weighed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's sweeping election victory, which boosted the yen JPY=.

Investors were also tracking U.S.–Iran diplomacy after both sides described Friday's discussions as positive.

In South Africa, stocks .JTOPI rose 0.4% after the central bank governor said the country's rate-cutting cycle still has further room to run.

Asia delivered some of the session's strongest moves. Thai assets rallied after the prime minister's party secured a clear win in a general election.

The SET index .SETI logged its best day in nearly seven months, while the baht THB= gained nearly 2% over two sessions - its strongest stretch since September last year. Thailand's 10-year yield TH10YT=RR fell to its lowest level since September 2021.

Indonesian equities still hadn't recovered losses since MSCI flagged concerns late last month around ownership and transparency. The country is set to hold a follow-up meeting with MSCI this week. Jakarta stocks .JKSE still managed a 1.2% rise on the day.