Turkish lira leads FX losses ahead of US payrolls

LONDON - Most emerging market currencies fell on Friday ahead of key US payrolls data, while Chinese stocks surged after a week-long holiday, even as concerns over a property market debt default persisted.

Turkey's lira slipped 1% to a record low of 8.9650 against the dollar, and was the worst performing emerging market (EM) currency on the day after a Reuters report suggested that President Tayyip Erdogan was losing confidence in central bank governor Sahap Kavcioglu, less than seven months after he sacked his predecessor.

Erdogan had gone through a string of central bank presidents over the past two years in a bid to enforce his unorthodox view that high interest rates cause inflation, which has seen prices spike, while pushing the lira to record lows.

Broader EM currencies slipped as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of US payrolls data later in the day. A stronger-than-expected reading could affirm the Federal Reserve's faith in the US economy, and push the bank into tightening policy earlier than signalled.