Emerging markets tumbled by the most in six months on Wednesday, slumping into a bear market as investors were spooked by a commodity price rout, currency turmoil and disappointing results from one of China’s t echnology giants.

In spite of a recovery in the Turkish lira after the country cracked down on short selling of the currency, the FTSE Emerging index of stocks in the developing world slid as much as 2.2 per cent on Wednesday. That took the benchmark’s decline since its January peak to more than 20 per cent — the usual definition of a bear market.

Emerging markets have faced mounting pressure over the past few months. Concerns over trade wars have weighed heavily, while rising US interest rates and the US dollar’s renaissance have dented the lustre of emerging markets, and contributed to crises in more vulnerable countries which are dependent on capital inflows, such as Argentina and Turkey.