Oil prices extend gains, Turkish Lira rises

At around 12:30 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October was up 33 cents at $48.68 a barrel.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery gained 28 cents to $46.02 compared with Aug. 15’s close.

Traders are speculating on whether Saudi Arabia and other major oil producing nations will reach an agreement at a meeting next month to tackle a supply glut.

Turkish stocks also opened higher on Aug. 16 amid a jump in oil prices and expectations that easy monetary policy will be extended around the globe.

The lira was trading marginally higher against the U.S. dollar on Aug. 16 as the greenback was weak against other emerging currencies after hopes of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve this year waned.

The lira rose to 2.9312 against the dollar, the highest since July 15, while the benchmark 10-year government bond yield remained flat at 9.42 percent. 

The home currency was trading at 2.9460 per dollar at 10:30 a.m. local time.        

The Turkish Treasury raised 1.86 billion liras ($635.8 million) on Aug. 16 through a bond auction.