Market News
Wild currency swings put emerging markets in the spotlight - REUTERS
By Nell Mackenzie, Dhara Ranasinghe and Alun John
Summary
- Increased interest in EM FX a key takeaway from whipsawed 2025
- Dollar weakness expected to continue in 2026, bolstering EMs
- Hedge funds, bank FX desks benefited the most
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Trading in the Hungarian forint, long a niche emerging market currency, has more than doubled since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, with trader interest only growing since his sweeping "Liberation Day" import tariffs announcement. These increased volumes are no blip either, say traders, strategists and hedge funds navigating the almost $10-trillion-a-day global FX markets.
The forint has strengthened roughly 20% against the dollar this year, set for its best year in almost a quarter of a century and making it one of 2025's top emerging currency performers .
It has been a good year more widely: MSCI's Emerging Market Currency Index (.MIEM00000CUS) hit a record in July and is on course for its best year since 2017, having gained more than 6%. Traders, fund managers and analysts spoken to by Reuters mostly expect this trend to continue next year, too.
