“All Bets Are Off” – Ruble, Lira Crushed By US Sanctions

Emerging Market currencies are down broadly but the biggest losers (for now) are the Turkish Lira (record lows) and Russian Ruble (20-mo lows) as both suffer from US government actions.

The Ruble has broken down to its lowest since Nov 2016 (US election)…

The move comes after the U.S. said it was imposing the new restrictions to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for the March 4 nerve-agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. As Blomberg reports, the threatened measures spooked investors, driving the ruble to the lowest levels since 2016 and pushing stocks like Aeroflot and VTB, which could be targeted by some of the new restrictions, down as much as 6 percent.

“It is clear that major sanctions actions are looming against Russia now either by the Administration, by Congress or both,” Tim Ash, a senior emerging-market strategist at Bluebay Asset Management LLC in London, said. “All bets are off.”

And The Lira is plumbing new record low depths…

As Bloomberg reports, the grip of bears on Turkish assets tightened as the nation’s souring relationship with the U.S. added to investor concern over authorities’ inability to put a lid on inflation, sending its currency to a fresh record low and driving up bond yields.

The development “raises the odds that the U.S. will double down on their sanctions” and adds to the “domestic challenges that plague lira-denominated assets,” analysts including Michael Every at Rabobank in London wrote in note to clients.

And for now, the great fall of China remains halted with offshore yuan still treading water…

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