LONDON -- Emerging stocks touched new seven-month lows on Thursday, led by steep falls in major oil-exporting markets after another slide in the oil price and persistent concerns about the global economic recovery.
MSCI's emerging equity index slipped 0.9 percent after the previous day's 1 percent fall, sparked by a Wall Street rout and flight to safe-haven bonds after disappointing U.S. data reinforced worries about the global economy. Most Asian bourses posted heavy falls.
With the price of oil continuing to slump, hitting its lowest level in four years, Middle Eastern markets fell hard, led by Saudi Arabia where stocks dropped 5.5 percent .
Dubai's stock market fell 2.4 percent while Abu Dhabi's index slipped 2.1 percent and Qatar slid 1.4 percent.
Emerging European stocks fared relatively better, with stocks markets in oil-importing Turkey and Poland up 0.2 percent and flat respectively . South African stocks rose 0.8 percent.
"You have oil prices and commodity prices collapsing and mostly risk-off sentiment but we are seeing some disparity in emerging markets. While central Europe is holding up quite well, oil-exporting countries such as Mexico are coming under big pressure," said Stanislava Pravdova, emerging market analyst at Danske Bank in Copenhagen.
The Mexican peso had hit two-year lows on Wednesday and stocks slipped 1 percent .
"The market now wants to see what central bankers at the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and European Central Bank can do to calm the markets. What (markets are) waiting for is some verbal support saying they will act if the market gets worse," Pravdova added.
The weak oil price, now trading below $83 a barrel, is adding pressure on Russia's rouble which has been punished as Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis have restricted Russian companies' access to capital markets.
The rouble was 0.9 percent weaker against the dollar-euro basket, falling past levels used by the central bank to gauge the currency's nominal exchange rate.