* Stocks flat at multimonth highs ahead of U.S. payrolls
data
* Turkish lira up 0.2 pct vs dollar
* Emerging equity funds take in $3.5 bln last week
By Alessandra Prentice
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Turkey’s lira touched a
three-month high on Friday as data showed January inflation
topping forecasts, while emerging stocks paused near five-month
highs ahead of the release of a key monthly U.S. jobs report.
The lira inched higher against the dollar to add to
gains of more than 5 percent since the start of 2012. Data
showed consumer inflation running at over 10 percent
year-on-year, indicating the central bank will need to stick to
its tight monetary policy that supports the currency.
“Inflation remains too high and they need to deliver tighter
monetary conditions…As long as that is being priced into the
market then the lira will hold on really well,” said Lars
Christensen, chief emerging markets analyst at Danske Bank.
However, Turkish bonds shrugged off the inflation numbers as
the central bank pumped 12 billion lira ($6.83 billion) into the
banking sector in short-term loans, easing immediate liquidity
conditions.
For Turkey, struggling with huge current account deficits, a
lot rides on global conditions, which recently have been going
in its favour.
Continued…
