ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira weakened as much as 2pc to beyond 8.0 against the dollar on Tuesday, extending this week's losses as local investors took advantage of a strong recent rally to build their forex and gold positions.

The lira weakened as far as 8.05 to the U.S. currency from Monday's close of 7.8880.

It trimmed its losses to stand at 8.00 at 0935 GMT.

It hit a record low of 8.58 this month before rebounding and is now 26pc weaker than at end-2019.