Turkish lira falls as Ukraine crisis unsettles markets

ISTANBUL: Regional uncertainty linked to the crisis in Ukraine and domestic political concerns in the run-up to March 30 municipal elections weighed on the Turkish lira on Monday, erasing initial gains driven by a jump in industrial production.

Calendar-adjusted, industrial production output was up 7.3 percent year-on-year in January compared with an expansion of 3.4 percent in the same period in 2013.

The lira firmed to 2.2050 against the dollar from 2.2133 on the data, but later weakened to 2.2200 by 1637 GMT as the crisis in Ukraine continued to unsettle emerging market investors.

The 10-year benchmark bond yield rose to 10.9 percent from 10.71 percent late on Friday. The main Istanbul share index closed down 0.58 percent at 62,731.50 points, outperforming the wider emerging markets index, which fell 1.24 percent.