SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asia share markets skidded and the euro hit one-year lows on Monday as a renewed rout in the Turkish lira infected the South African rand and drove demand for safe harbors, including the U.S. dollar, Swiss franc and yen.
People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
The run from risk dragged MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.3 percent to a five-week low. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.6 percent with every bourse in the region in the red.
EMini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.4 percent, while 10-year Treasury yields dipped further to 2.85 percent.
China’s blue chip index shed 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong stocks lost 1.6 percent as the local dollar fell to the limits of its trading band.
Much of the early action was in currencies with the euro gapping lower as the Turkish lira took another slide to all-time lows around 7.2400.
The lira found just a sliver of support when Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the country had drafted an action plan to ease investor concerns and the banking watchdog said it limited swap transactions.
Yet the dollar was still up almost 10 percent on the day at 7.0000 lira. This time last month it was at 4.8450.
The currency tumbled on worries over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s increasing control over the economy and deteriorating relations with the United States.
“The plunge in the lira which began in May now looks certain to push the Turkish economy into recession and it may well trigger a banking
