Turkish lira rebounds taking pressure off world stock markets

New York: Turkey’s lira has recovered steadily, taking the pressure off stock markets, with European bourses finishing little changed and Wall Street pushing higher. Even as the selling pressured abated, investors kept a nervous eye on Ankara after Monday’s bloodletting which saw the lira hit record lows and equity markets go into free-fall on concerns Turkey’s financial crisis could spread globally. “The Turkish lira has finally found some support after two days of intense selling that triggered panic across the markets,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com, adding that the lira had clawed back most of the previous day’s losses. “But it has a long way to go following its 13 percent or so drop on Friday and its previous declines,” he said. In European deals, the Turkish unit advanced to 6.40 to the dollar and 7.26 to the euro, which was well off the all-time record lows seen the previous day, after Turkey’s central bank vowed to boost liquidity. In Europe, London and Paris equities were down at the close, while Frankfurt was flat. [caption id=“attachment_1249891” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nasdaq market site. Reuters[/caption] In New York, however, the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all posted gains of at least half a percent, with analysts reporting that investors were less worried about Turkey’s crisis affecting other emerging economies. The improving exchange rate of the Turkish currency helped ease fears for other emerging currencies which have become entangled with the lira’s woes. But the Indian rupee still fell to a record low of 70 to the dollar on Tuesday. “Turkey’s central bank managed to calm down the currency markets for the time being by committing to provide liquidity for the embattled Turkish lira,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at traders City Index. “The lira even managed to claw back some lost ground… allowing stock and commodity markets to recover.” But concerns remain about how the crisis will pan out, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a combative mood, accusing Washington of plotting against his country, and calling for a boycott of US electronic goods. In Asia, Shanghai and Hong Kong equities sank into the red on downbeat Chinese data, which also weighed on commodities.