Turkish assets traded mixed on Friday, with a central bank announcement it would look to step up dollars purchases failing to stem further gains in the lira. The bank's move had been expected and flagged by Governor Durmus Yilmaz, as the central bank joined emerging peers in trying to offset huge inflows of hot money amid dollar weakness.
The lira closed at 1.4440 to the dollar, firming from a previous close of 1.4475, trading near its highest level in a year. It eased to 1.4460 in Monday-dated trade. Bonds also gained. The yield on the benchmark April 25, 2012 bond briefly fell to below 8 percent but then settled at 8.01 percent from a previous close of 8.08 percent. It edged up to 8.02 percent in Monday-dated trade.
The central bank said it would buy up to an additional $300 million at foreign currency auctions next week. It currently purchases $200 million a week with an option of an additional $200 million. The headline index reading fell to 50.3 from 51.3 in August.
Exports also showed a declining pace of acceleration, rising 10.25 percent on the year in September, after having risen 12.45 percent in the January to September period as a whole. Turkish stocks eased 1.36 percent to 64,882.72 points, having touched a fresh record high on Thursday. The index is up 23 percent since the start of the year, massively outperforming a 9 percent rise in the benchmark emerging index.
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