Stocks rally hits pause, peso and lira tumble (Venezuela, Turkey)

Yahoo News (from AFP) ^ | August 30, 2018 | AFP

[Texas Fossil]

Stock markets dropped Thursday on profit-taking after a recent run higher on optimism on trade deals, and news on more US tariffs on China, while Argentina's peso and the Turkish lira tumbled.

The peso slumped to a new record low, prompting Argentina's central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate to 60 from 45 percent in a bid to arrest a slide in its value.

The drop came even after the International Monetary Fund's agreed to consider Argentina's request to speed up payments under its $50 billion loan.

The peso fell 13 percent against the US dollar, taking its losses to 20 percent for the week, and about 45 percent since the beginning of the year.

"In a context of continued global dollar strength, markets seem to have no mercy for the Argentine peso," JPMorgan said in an analysis.

"While it's hard to make a call in a 'panic scenario' ... we are concerned about the medium-term implications of the policy actions triggered by recent volatility."

Meanwhile, the Turkish lira suffered fresh losses, losing three percent against the dollar, as a deputy central bank governor resigned.

The lira has lost nearly 45 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year, which led economists to warn of a full-blown recession.

[Texas Fossil]

I’m no fan of gnomes twitteling the knobs. Nor their ability to effectively manage the economy. (I’ve never worked in that field)

I have a lot more confidence in mature privately held business owners. (rare breed today) I worked for 2 such companies for 35 years.