USD/TRY firmer, tests weekly peaks beyond 8.0000

• USD/TRY extends the rally above the 8.00 mark.
• The lira remains on the defensive as selling bias picks up pace.
• Turkey’s Manufacturing Confidence eased to 103.9 this month.

The Turkish lira extends the downside for another session on Tuesday and lifts USD/TRY back to the area above the psychological 8.00 mark, just to receded afterwards.

USD/TRY remains supported around 7.50

USD/TRY advances for the third session in a row on turnaround Tuesday, as the Turkish currency continues to give away gains following the recent rally. On the latter, it is worth recalling that the lira gained around 12% from all-time lows vs. the dollar on November 6 to last week’s highs around 7.50.

However, market participants (Turkish citizens?) appear to be using those lira’s gains to resume their purchases of US dollars, putting the pair under extra upside pressure. In the meantime, investors are expected to keep closely following the developments in the country following the latest orthodox hike by the central bank (CBRT) and President Erdogan’s pledge to take Turkey to an era of financial stability, growth and foreign investment.

In the domestic docket, Turkey’s Manufacturing Confidence dropped to 103.9 in November (from 108.1) and the Capacity Utilization ticked higher to 75.8% (from 75.4). Later in the week, the Economic Sentiment gauge is due as well as the CBRT Minutes.

USD/TRY key levels

At the moment the pair is up 1.02% at 7.9537 and faces the next hurdle at 8.0423 (weekly high Nov.24) followed by 8.5777 (all-time high Nov.6) and finally 9.0000 (psychological hurdle). On the downside, a drop below 7.5119 (monthly low Nov.20) would expose 7.3970 (horizontal support line off August’s top) and then 7.1063 (200-day SMA).