Turkish lira becomes negative before US pastor's hearing

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The lira weakened on Friday, becoming negative after quick gains, as investors weighed on the prospects of releasing a US pastor tried in Turkey in a case that put a strain on relations between Ankara and Washington.

The TRYTOM = D3, which had previously rallied to its highest level in two months at 5.85 against a dollar, was trading at 5.97 at 7:45 GMT, down 1% from yesterday.

The Turkish currency had gained 3% Thursday on hopes that Pastor Andrew Brunson will be returned to the United States after Friday's hearing.

"If it is released, this would be a major positive signal to read it and should be enough for the USD / TRY to convincingly cross the threshold of the support zone around 6.00 to the level. of 5.66968, "said Rabobank in a research note.

The case of Brunson, Evangelical Christian pastor of North Carolina, is one of the sources of tension between NATO allies and has contributed to a 40% drop in the value of the read this year. He faces charges of terrorism, which he denies.

NBC News announced that the White House was waiting for Brunson to be released by Turkey and returned to the United States in the coming days, according to two administration officials and another informed person. topic.

According to sources quoted by NBC, under a recent agreement by US administration officials with Turkey, Brunson is expected to be released after certain charges against him were dropped at Friday's hearing.

The report could not be confirmed.

Brunson's lawyer told Reuters earlier that the new prosecution witnesses expected Friday at his trial were irrelevant, as their testimony focused on incidents after his arrest.

The Istanbul .XU100 main stock index was down 0.2%, the shares of the public lender Halkbank (HALKB.IS) up 2.3%, after a brief decrease of 6.2% before a temporary suspension of negotiations.

In May, a US judge sentenced Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Halkbank leader, to 32 months in prison after being found guilty of participating in a scheme to help Iran escape US sanctions. This case is another source of Turkish-American relations. strains.

Turkey rejected the case for political reasons and its finance minister said that he did not expect Halkbank to be fined for its relations with Iran .