Turkish lira is a time bomb [Video]

The Norwegian central bank raised the interest rates by 50bp yesterday and said that there will be a similar move in September, to tackle the soaring inflation in Norway. The Philippines hiked by 50bp as well, to cool inflation. The Federal Reserve (Fed) minutes released this Wednesday showed that the US will continue raising the rates and tightening the monetary conditions to bring inflation back toward the 2% level in the US. The European Central Bank (ECB) board member Isabel Schnabel said that the eurozone inflation outlook has failed to improve since the rate hike in July and that she will favour another large interest rate hike next month, even as recession risks harden. But Turkey cut its rate by 100bp yesterday, although consumer prices rose 80% year-to-date, and near 180% since a year.

The USDTRY jumped past the 18, although the selloff remained under controlled because of central bank intervention.

The US dollar index gained, the euro, sterling and yen weakened.

Gold extended losses to $1750 on the back of a stronger US dollar, while crude oil rallied near 4% yesterday on 7-mio decline in US crude inventories last week.

US stock indices closed slightly high on better-than-expected retailer earnings, and encouraging economic data, while the Bed Bath and Beyond dived 20% as Ryan Cohen exited his position.