Mark Mobius favors consumer and commodity-linked stocks

Mark Mobius, chairman of the emerging markets unit of investment group Franklin Templeton, said on Thursday he favors consumer and commodity-linked stocks in emerging market nations on population dynamics and supply conditions.

"We can summarize fundamentals for emerging markets stocks in just one word: growth," Mobius, who oversees around USD 50 billion in assets.

Mobius' preferences underscore expectations that demographic trends, as well as demand for raw materials from crude oil to grains will drive performance of equities in countries such as Brazil, China, Nigeria and Qatar.

He said a flood of cheap money being released by central banks around the world is a "double-edged sword" that could spark global food inflation.

That can cause significant problems for markets, especially if it leads to the sort of political instability currently affecting Egypt, Mobius said.

He said Brazilian stocks make up the largest percentage of his stock holdings from Latin America and the so-called BRIC nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India and China.