LDN - Business

Futures drop on worries about Turkey currency crisis

[August 13, 2018] By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as a meltdown in Turkish lira weighed on shares of big U.S. lenders and triggered a widespread selloff in global equities.

Worries about President Tayyip Erdogan's influence over the economy and worsening ties with the United States have sent the currency down more than 40 percent against the dollar this year.

The latest crash persuaded investors to dump equities and flee to safer assets such as government bonds and the dollar.

The downbeat mood in the markets was a continuation from Friday, when U.S. bank stocks took a beating as investors fretted over their exposure to Turkey.

Wells Fargo <WFC.N> dropped 0.9 percent in premarket trading on Monday, Citigroup <C.N> slipped 0.7 percent, Bank of America <BAC.N> fell 0.7 percent.

At 7:22 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 76 points, or 0.3 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 7.75 points, or 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 19.5 points, or 0.26 percent.

If the losses hold, the S&P 500 is set to post its fourth straight session of declines, the first time since mid-March. Still, the index is just 1.34 percent away from a record high hit in late January.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Nielsen Holdings <NLSN.N> jumped 10.4 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott Management took a large stake in the TV-ratings company.

Mylan <MYL.O> climbed 0.9 percent after RBC upgraded the stock to "outperform".

Goodyear Tire & Rubber <GT.O> fell 2.8 percent in low volumes after brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "equal-weight".

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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