ISTANBUL: Turkish bond yields inched up on Thursday partly due to local banks selling to boost their balance sheets before the earnings season. The lira traded flat.
The yield on the two-year benchmark bond closed at 5.87 percent, from Wednesday's close at 5.83 percent.
Analysts said local banks were selling some bonds to provide funds for loans before finalising their income statements at the end of the quarter on March 31.
The rise in US treasury yields also pushed local bond yields up, some analysts said.
By 1522 GMT, the lira was at 1.8130 to the dollar , virtually flat compared with 1.8125 late on Wednesday. Against its euro-dollar basket it eased to 2.0822 from 2.0795 a day earlier.
Istanbul's main share index closed down 0.77 percent at 81,981.58 points, compared with a fall of 0.18 percent in the global emerging markets index.
Shares in lender Vakifbank fell 3.16 percent after Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey may hold a secondary public offering for the state-run lender in the second half of the year and its free float may be raised to 49 percent from 25 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.