Turkey’s currency, the lira, enjoyed a much-welcomed boost on Monday and the preceding Friday after the country’s banking regulator announced a ban on lira loans to companies holding what it deemed to be too much foreign currency. By Monday morning in Istanbul, the lira had notched a roughly 8% gain in two days, trading at 16.01 to the greenback, up from Thursday’s close of 17.35. But by late afternoon on Monday, it had pared some of those gains, decreasing slightly to 16.5 against the dollar, after whipsawing within the 16 to 17 lira per dollar range. The moves reflect mixed feelings by investors over the new loan ... (full story)