ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira fell near record lows yesterday as fears of turmoil in the Middle East roiled global markets. The lira weakened as low as 2.0625 against the dollar by 1417 GMT, from 2.0435 earlier. It had been at 2.0176 late on Monday.
The lira hit a record low of 2.07 against the dollar on August 28, which is around 15 percent down from its peak this year, after Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci ruled out interest rate hikes to defend the currency. The bank has sold $7.9bn at foreign exchange auctions to support the lira so far this year.
Investors expect the central bank to take steps to support the lira. But the bank’s announcement it would take additional monetary tightening steps next Monday was seen by the market as meaning it would not take any further measures this week.
The 10-year benchmark bond yield closed at 10.24 percent from 10.04 percent at Monday’s close. The main Istanbul share index fell 2.29 percent to 66,973.08 points, underperforming emerging markets peers which fell 0.28 percent.
Reuters
