Turkish lira firms on coronavirus slowdown hopes

• The lira stood at 6.7185 against the dollar at 0828 GMT, firming from a close of 6.7915 on Monday.
• Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus rose to 649 on Monday while confirmed cases surged to more than 30,000.
• The optimisim among investors was also reflected in Turkish stocks, with the bluechip BIST100 index and the banking index both rising for a second straight day.

ANKARA: The Turkish lira firmed around 1pc on Tuesday, benefitting from an improvement in global sentiment spurred by signs that the coronavirus crisis may be slowing in New York and in Europe.

The lira stood at 6.7185 against the dollar at 0828 GMT, firming from a close of 6.7915 on Monday.

The currency, still fragile from a Turkish financial crisis in 2018, has fallen more than 11pc this year, though it has fared relatively well among emerging market peers, which have lost more than 20pc against the greenback so far this year.

On Tuesday, in an effort to support markets and the economy, Turkey's central bank opened a 90-day repo auction with a volume of 10 billion lira and an interest rate of 8.25pc - 150 basis points below its policy rate.

Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus rose to 649 on Monday while confirmed cases surged to more than 30,000.

The optimisim among investors was also reflected in Turkish stocks, with the bluechip BIST100 index and the banking index both rising for a second straight day. Both were up about 1.8pc at 0905 GMT.