Some of the fastest-growing economies of the past 10 years are facing a sustained slowdown because of the euro crisis and a sharp deterioration in the US economy, according to a report by HSBC.

China and Brazil are among the hardest-hit economies as export orders decline and the fallout from the eurozone's spending cuts takes its toll.

Until recently, the global economy has relied on the US and the major emerging economies to keep moving forward.

According to HSBC's emerging markets index, a slump in the global market for goods made by the big four Bric countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – has also hit the services sector. The study found that emerging economies continued to grow in the three months to the end of June, but at a slower pace. The index slipped to 53.0, from 53.6 in the first quarter.

Among the big four emerging markets, the study found Brazil and China slowed more alarmingly than India and Russia. Brazilian activity weakened again, having looked more promising earlier in the year and China recorded only modest growth. In both cases, a slump in manufacturing output was the principal drag on activity.

HSBC's Murat Ulgen, while acknowledging the relative resilience of emerging economies compared with their western counterparts, said: "The deepening of the eurozone crisis, disappointing US activity and a slowdown in non-eurozone countries has seen developed growth figures revised down yet again.

"However, this quarter there is a visible slowdown in the emerging giants comprising the majority of the Brics, exacerbating a year-long pattern of below-trend growth rates for the emerging world."

The study comes ahead of the release of official GDP data in China on Friday, when growth is expected to be around 8%. Economists estimate that Beijing needs growth of around 6% just to keep pace with its expanding population.

The most recent data points to a deepening slowdown that is adding to pressure on communist leaders to revive growth, and avert job losses and political tensions. The slowdown is the deepest since the 2008 crisis and considered serious enough to hit China's demand for imported oil, iron ore and industrial components. If its appetite for commodities declines, that could dent hopes abroad that a robust China will drive the global market at a time of anaemic sales in the US and Europe.

Michael Derks, chief strategist at currency dealer FxPro, is downbeat about the prospects for China. "Notwithstanding the hugely opaque statistics emanating from the world's second largest economy, it is abundantly clear that the pace of growth in China slowed much more rapidly than expected in the first half of this year. All through this period, various purchasing managers' surveys registered readings at or below 50, suggesting that output growth is contracting," he said.

"Demand in some key sectors such as coal, steel and shipbuilding has collapsed. At the same time, electricity production rose by just 0.7% year on year in April, with May likely to show a decline. Home sales have slowed appreciably this year; loan demand has waned markedly; and both residential and commercial construction, which at the height of the economic boom represented more than 10% of GDP, have completely stalled. If the economy really was growing at 10% through 2010-11, then the underlying pace of growth may already be nearer 6%."

The communist government has responded by easing the curbs it imposed in 2010 to cool an overheating economy and control inflation. Beijing has cut interest rates twice since the start of June and announced other stimulus measures. But forecasters are putting back prospects for a rebound in the world's second-largest economy until at least the second half of this year.

Two indicators for June show manufacturing growth fell to its lowest level in seven months and growth in imports fell by half from the May level to 6.3%. Trade in goods returned to a long-run decline (see chart), suggesting growth is slowing further after declining to a near-three-year low of 8.1% in the first quarter.

That would still meet the government's official target of 7.5% this year, but the abrupt slowdown and weakness in car sales, retail spending and other areas in recent months has fuelled fears that growth might fall further than expected, causing possible unrest. Consumer inflation fell to just 2.2% in June, giving Beijing more room to stimulate the economy with less danger of igniting rises in politically sensitive living costs.