ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira firmed on Thursday on comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin seen as easing tensions with Ukraine, and on euro zone data seen as increasing the chances of more monetary easing by the European Central Bank.
Speaking to ministers and members of parliament in Crimea, Putin said Russia would stand up for itself but not at the cost of confrontation with the outside world.
Meanwhile, euro zone economic growth ground to a halt in the second quarter as Germany's economy shrank and France's stagnated, arguably making it more likely that the ECB could start printing money in the coming months to stimulate growth. The lira was trading at 2.1514 to the dollar by 1442 GMT from 2.1545 late on Wednesday, having weakened as far as 2.1635 earlier after data showed Turkey's current account deficit had widened in June.
Istanbul's main share index fell 0.06 percent to 77,569.92 points, slightly underperforming the broader emerging markets index, which was up 0.17 percent.
The benchmark two-year government bond yield fell to 9.24 percent from 9.45 percent on Wednesday. The 10-year government bond yield dropped to 9.32 percent from 9.42 percent the day before.
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