SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Worries over the plunging Turkish lira and Russian ruble pulled the euro lower on Friday and rippled through riskier assets worldwide, sending stock markets lower and buoying safe haven assets such as U.S. Treasuries.
FILE PHOTO: A money changer counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange office in Istanbul, Turkey August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
The euro fell to its lowest level since July 2017 and the dollar rallied as Washington piled pressure on Ankara and Moscow. The lira went into free-fall, sinking more than 10 percent to all-time lows.
European stocks looked set to start well in the red, following losses in Asia and U.S. futures.
Spreadbetters indicated London’s FTSE was set to open 4 points lower at 7,738, Frankfurt’s DAX 17 points lower at 12,660 and Paris’ CAC 11 points down at 5,491.
U.S. S&P mini-futures were down 0.4 percent, after modest losses on Wall Street overnight.[.N]
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.1 percent, trimming its gains for the week to 0.6 percent.
The Nikkei stock index fell 1.3 percent as the yen firmed and investors fretted over trade pressure from Washington, overshadowing data which showed Japan’s economy expanded faster-than-expected in the second quarter.[.T]
Worries over the escalating Sino-U.S. trade conflict continued to drag on shares in China, with the Shanghai Composite index down 0.4 percent.
The tech-heavy ChiNext Composite index trimmed its early gains, but was still 0.2 percent higher in afternoon trade, extending Thursday’s strong gains.
Josh Sheng, chief investment officer at Shanghai Tongshengtonghui Asset Management, said that a late rally in tech shares this week reflected moves by Beijing to boost local firms, such as revamping a government leadership group to focus on supporting homegrown technology.
