Turkish lira's losses roil Asia forex markets

Japan’s yen gained ground on the dollar and the South African rand touched a two-year low as concerns over the Turkish lira’s stability spread into other emerging market currencies.

The rand fell as much as 10.4 per cent to 15.5517 per dollar, the lowest level since June 2016 before pulling back to be down 6.6 per cent in morning trading in Hong Kong.

The yen, a haven during market uncertainty, was 0.7 per cent stronger at ¥110.17 per dollar at its highest in more than six weeks. The US dollar index, measuring the greenback against a basket of peers, was 0.1 per cent firmer.

In China, the onshore renminbi exchange rate, which moves within a trading band of 2 per cent either side of a daily mid point set by the People’s Bank of China, fell 0.4 per cent to Rmb6.8757. The offshore rate was down 0.3 per cent at Rmb6.8871.

The Australian dollar was 0.4 per cent weaker at $0.7272 while the pound and the euro, usually thinly traded in the Asia morning session, did not manage to escape unscathed. The euro was off 0.3 per cent at $1.1378 while sterling was down 0.1 per cent at $1.2752.

Sovereign bonds made gains with the yield on the 10-year US Treasuries, which falls when prices rise, down 2 basis point at 2.85 per cent.

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