Fitch and Federal Reserve

: Already assessed as junk by Standard & Poor’s, any notion from Fitch that it too might consider cutting Turkey could add selling pressure from those investors limited to holding investment-grade assets, according to Business Week. Fitch gave a glimpse into its thinking last week when it identified Turkey among the emerging markets most exposed to a higher Federal Reserve rate because of the large amount of foreign-currency debt owed by banks. In the throes of a worsening conflict with Kurdish and Islamic State militants, looming elections and the potential fallout from higher US interest rates, Turkey is due for its scheduled checkup at Fitch Ratings this week. There is an increasing threat that the outlook is changed to negative from stable, highlighting the risk of a downgrade to junk, Cristian Maggio, the head of emerging-market research at TD Securities in London, said on Tuesday. Such a step, said Maggio, could mean more pain for Turkey currency and bonds, so far this year second-worst emerging- market performers. After Fitch comments, singling out emerging-market weaknesses last week, this move is not so unthinkable. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.