The third quarter was slightly more challenging for emerging markets, driven in part by the twists and turns in global trade rhetoric. In addition, we continued to see revisions downwards in global growth balanced by monetary policy movements, i.e., reductions in rates, around the globe.
While expectations for economic growth in China have been declining, there are signs that some of the stimulus, particularly the infrastructure/fixed asset investment-type of stimulus, is starting to gain a little traction. The services sector, however, continues to be relatively robust, in our view. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed