Euro hits highest value against Turkish Lira

ISTANBUL/LONDON

The euro rose to 4.1890 against the Turkish Lira early on Aug. 2, after a 0.6 percent increase compared to previous trading, hitting an all-time high against the lira. 

The index later regressed to 4.1730 by noon. 

The lira has lost nearly 11 percent in value against the European currency over this year, as the euro has rallied against almost all currencies. On Aug. 1, the lira was one of the rising emerging currencies against the dollar due to positive signals given by the Central Bank. 

The euro also climbed to a fresh 2.5-year high against the dollar on Aug. 2 as investors added long bets in the single currency, though some analysts advised caution as a number of signals - such as interest rate differentials - were flashing a warning sign.

While fears of a trade spat between China and the U.S. saw the U.S. currency score some early gains against its commodity-linked rivals such as the New Zealand and the Canadian dollar, it has struggled against the euro.

The euro briefly climbed to $1.1869, its highest since January 2015 before giving back some gains to trade 0.3 percent up at $1.1835 on the day, as reported by Reuters. 

The dollar’s weakness this year has been fueled by a steady unwinding of expectations of optimism about U.S. President Donald Trump’s stimulus plans and falling hopes to the extent of a Federal Reserve policy increase in the coming months.

For example, expectations of a U.S. rate increase at its September meeting has all but evaporated from the market compared to a 20 percent probability a month earlier, according to CME’s Fedwatch tool.

But recent data has been encouraging. Last week’s data showed the U.S. economy accelerated in the second quarter with market expectations focused on jobs data this week.

While the euro has been a star among its G10 peers this year, gaining more than 12 percent against the dollar with most of its gains coming in the last three months, some investors are growing cautious about the single currency’s strength.

“Our European strategists advise selling the euro on rallies as they believe the ECB hawkish expectations priced into the market may be premature,” said Sue Trinh, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.