Emerging market USD-denominated bonds posted their first weekly drop since October, with yields on the 10-year benchmark Treasury note creeping above 1%, according to Bloomberg. The USD strengthened against other currencies during the first week of 2021, putting upward pressure on yields (which means lower bond prices), notes the business information service. This came despite a booming Friday for EM equities, which guided the MSCI gauge of stocks to record levels.

Emerging market stocks will come out as “prime beneficiaries of the economic restart,” Jean Boivin, head of the BlackRock Investment Institute told the FT. Boivin, along with several other leading asset managers, are especially bullish on EMs this year, and are giving frontier market assets a larger slice of their portfolios. Reasons include a weaker USD, the search for higher yields and higher risk tolerance, and elevated equity valuations elsewhere. Pundits in the story tip Asian EMs to advance fastest.

The EGX30 rose 2.4% yesterday on turnover of EGP 1.6 bn (17.1% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 3.4% YTD.

In the green: Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+6.6%), EFG Hermes (+5.1%) and Egyptian Iron & Steel (+4.9%).

In the red: Ezz Steel (-1.0%), Ibnsina Pharma (-0.6%) and Madinet Nasr Housing (-0.5%).

It’s green as far as the eye can see this morning in Asia, while futures suggest European markets will open largely in the green — and that Wall Street will come under pressure later today thanks to political developments in the US of A.