Turkish bond yields rise after higher Jan inflation

ISTANBUL: Turkish bond yields rose slightly and the lira eased on Monday after data showed higher inflation in January, though the reaction was limited as the central bank had flagged a rise.

By 0850 GMT, the lira stood at 1.7503 to the dollar , slightly easing from 1.7494 late on Friday.

The yield on the two-year benchmark bond inched up to 5.84 percent from 5.81 percent earlier.

The consumer price index rose 1.65 percent month-on-month in January, above a Reuters poll forecast of 1.14 percent, for year-on-year inflation of 7.31 percent, data from the Turkish statistics institute showed.

Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci warned last week that there would be a limited rise in January inflation due to tobacco price hikes. But analysts said food prices also contributed to the increase.

"We continue to be cautious with the headline CPI for end-2013, although the jump in January is likely to be temporary and will not trigger an inflationary trend," Muhammet Mercan, research vice president at ING Bank in Turkey, said in a note.

Istanbul's main share index was up 0.91 percent at 80,948.70 points, outperforming a rise of 0.37 percent in the global emerging markets index.