DUBAI: Sputtering progress toward a trade deal and signs of weakness in the Chinese economy are looming as the biggest threats to the wave of optimism spreading across emerging markets.

Before last Friday, developing-nation stocks had touched the highest level since May and currencies held near a three-month high. Then President Donald Trump rattled traders by saying the US hadn’t agreed to a tariff rollback with China, dimming hopes for a preliminary trade deal next month. Beijing wants a deal “much more than I do, ” Trump weighed in again last Saturday.