(Oct 17): Emerging-market stocks climbed, paring a sixth weekly loss, as energy stocks rallied amid a rebound in crude prices, countering losses in China prompted by a potential delay in a much-anticipated Shanghai-Hong Kong trading link.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Asia’s largest software- services provider, slumped the most in five years in Mumbai after quarterly profit trailed estimates. OAO Tatneft and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd. rallied as crude prices extended a rally from a two-year low. The ruble weakened to a record low, while Russia’s benchmark Micex Index rose for the first time in three days. Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index jumped the most in six months.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.2 percent to 972.58 at 9:37 a.m. in London, reversing a loss of as much as 0.3 percent. The measure has lost 1.8 percent this week, poised for the longest decline since the six weeks ended June 21, 2013. Investors pulled $2.4 billion from emerging-market funds in the week ended Oct. 15, according to a note dated today from Citigroup Inc. West Texas Intermediate crude held gains above $80 a barrel as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the market isn’t oversupplied.

“The recovery in oil prices helped investors to gain some confidence, and stocks look a bit oversold after the selloff over the past few weeks,” said Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities co. in Shanghai. “The possible delay in the exchange link added some uncertainty to the market.”

Market Link

Eight out of 10 industry groups in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed, led by energy and financial companies. The gauge of emerging-nation energy stocks climbed for the first time in four days, adding 1.2 percent.

Global shares have lost more than $3.2 trillion in value this month amid concern the U.S. economic recovery is slowing just as the Federal Reserve plans to end quantitative easing and the risk of recession in Europe grows.

Russia’s Micex Index rose 1.4 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7 percent at the close, reversing a 0.2 percent gain. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rebounded 0.9 percent.

There isn’t a timetable for the link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses, and any announcement about when it will begin should be done jointly with regulators, Charles Li, chief executive officer at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., said today, according to Radio Television Hong Kong.

Link Delay

The link, which will allow the equivalent of $1.7 billion in daily net purchases of Hong Kong shares and $2.1 billion for Shanghai, was expected to start on Oct. 27 at the latest after Li said on Sept. 18 that it would begin on a Monday in October. It may now be postponed until November or even December, Andy Maynard, global head of trading and execution at Hong Kong-based CLSA, said in an interview yesterday.

Indonesia’s JCI Index advanced 1.8 percent. Investors took a meeting this morning between President-elect Joko Widodo and his defeated election opponent Prabowo Subianto as a signal that political tension between the two camps has subsided. Widodo takes office Oct. 20.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 0.5 percent, rallying from a two-month low. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index climbed 1.4 percent, the most since Sept. 9.

Tata Earnings

Tata Consultancy slumped 8.2 percent in Mumbai, poised for the biggest drop since May 2009. The company predicted a “soft quarter” in the three months through December after reporting earnings that missed forecasts as clients outsource work as smaller projects rather than large deals. HCL Technologies slumped 9.3 percent.

Tatneft gained 2.6 percent in Moscow. SapuraKencana jumped 10 percent in Kuala Lumpur, the first gain in six days and the largest since May 2013, while Bumi Armada added 5.1 percent.

Largan Precision Co. declined the most in three months in Taipei after UBS AG downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, citing lower gross margins. LG Display Co. tumbled 5.5 percent in Seoul after Credit Suisse Group AG lowered its rating on the shares to underperform from neutral.

The MSCI emerging-markets gauge has declined 3 percent this year and trades at 10.5 times projected 12-month earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has fallen 3.9 percent and is valued at a multiple of 13.9.