Turkish Lira hits another historic low on Syria concerns

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish Lira’s historic fall against the dollar continued this morning, as it weakened to another record low due the heightened possibility of a strike against Syria. Hürriyet photo

The Turkish Lira’s historic fall against the dollar continued this morning, as it weakened to another record low due the heightened possibility of a strike against Syria.

The lira stood at 2.0521 against the dollar, after hitting a record low of 2.07 earlier this morning. Late yesterday it had been at 2.037.

The Istanbul stock market also opened the day will losses surpassing 2 percent. The main BIST 100 index was at 64,326 points.

Analysts say the markets have taken account of concerns over the implications of a possible U.S.-led military strike on Syria, instead of the confident and calm remarks from Central Bank Governor Erdem Başçı yesterday.

Başçı struck a tone mixing defiance with reassurance, saying the foreign exchange reserves would “never” be exhausted, that interest rates would be contained, and that the pressures were a temporary squall.

Due to growing worries that foreign investors would continue to sell out of a country facing stiff economic challenges and volatile global markets, the dollar has gaining value against most emerging market currencies, with the Indian rupee at the top.

The Syria worries pushed oil prices and safe-haven gold to multi-month highs as well.

Brent crude prices advanced 2.4 percent to a six-month high of $117.14 a barrel, extending yesterday’s 3.3 percent surge - the biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly 10 months.

Gold climbed 0.8 percent to a more than three-month high after also gaining 0.8 percent yesterday.