Emerging Currencies, Stocks Halt Rally in Thin May Day Trading

Emerging-market stocks and currencies fell Thursday in a muted session with most of the world observing the May Day holiday.

MSCI indexes for equities and currencies in developing markets each dropped 0.3%, before end-of-day adjustments, halting a multiple-day rally. The Mexican peso and South African rand swung between gains and losses, while a measure of the dollar’s strength jumped to the highest in two weeks.