Turkish stocks reverse earlier rally, lira falls nearly 4 pct vs dollar

The benchmark Istanbul Stock Exchange index lost 0.15 percent to 26,723 points after a 4.33 percent rise in morning trade as investors bet that governments globally would succeed in ending the credit crisis.

 

Analysts expected the sell offs to continue in the stock market in the coming period.

 

Stocks had risen mainly on a fall in the level of recent sell offs from foreign investors and on a rise in purchases from local investors, Hakan Tezcan, senior portfolio manager at Finans Invest, told HotNewsTurkey (HNT).

 

"There was a sharp rise in sales in the Turkish stock markets which caused huge losses because of the recent hedge funds sell offs. Foreign investors and these funds have partly stepped back from selling and domestic investors have benefited from this."

 

The measures taken by governments and central banks have eased the markets to some degree, Orhan Veli Canli, Is Yatirim domestic markets deputy manager, told Hurriyet.com.tr.

The lira fell nearly 4 percent and traded above 1.56 as the dollar firmed against emerging country currencies and the foreign investors' demand rose.

The U.S. dollar firmed against the world's currencies benefiting from an ongoing funding demand. It rose to its highest in 1-1/2 years against the euro on Tuesday and traded at $1.3256, having hit a low of $1.3237 -- last seen in March 2007.