Hopes of loose monetary policy in US lift Turkish stocks

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Turkish equities firmed on the first day of the week, boosted by lower-than-expected U.S. jobs growth raising the prospect that interest rates in the world’s biggest economy would stay low for longer.

Turkish stocks outpaced emerging markets after data that U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by only 142,000 last month, far below the 225,000 forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Turkey’s assets are especially sensitive to changes in global liquidity conditions because of its large current account deficit, which is financed with foreign capital inflows.

Istanbul’s main share index rose 0.44 percent to 82,252.64 points by 09:20 a.m., compared with a 0.15 percent rise in the broader emerging markets index.

Data showing that Turkish industrial production expanded 3.6 percent calendar-adjusted year-on-year in July on Monday gave additional support as market consensus was a contraction, analysts said.

Real estate company Torunlar GYO bucked the trend, falling more than 3 percent after 10 employees died in a lift accident at a stadium construction site in Istanbul bringing worries about worker safety into focus.

The Turkish lira weakened to 2.1630 against the dollar from 2.1592 on Sept. 5.

There were no trades yet in the benchmark 10-year government bond yield nor the benchmark 2-year government bond yield.