Lira rallies 6% to 12.1 on profit taking Mexican peso hits 8-month low Lopez Obrador pitches deputy finance minister for central bank Nov 24 (Reuters) - A surging dollar pressured emerging market currencies on Wednesday, with Mexico"s peso slipping to more than eight-month lows on central bank uncertainty, while Turkey"s lira rallied 6%, reversing around half the previous session"s slide. As a bleak reading of German business morale sent the euro to its lowest in more than 16-months, the dollar resumed its rally, bolstered further by data showing U.S. weekly jobless claims hit a 52-year low. read more The lira recovered to 12.1 per dollar after hitting a record low of 13.45 on Tuesday driven by fears of continued policy missteps as President Tayyip Erdogan pressures the central bank to cuts rates despite surging inflation. "We"re probably going to continue to see downward pressure on the lira heading into year end," said Christian Lawrence, senior FX and rates strategist with Rabobank. "It"s not going to be at the pace we saw over recent days," he said, attributing the day"s moves to profit taking. Lawrence does not see Turkish interest rates being cut further as signaled by the central bank and expects the rates to be held or "if anything, raised". Mexico"s peso slipped as much as 2% to 21.60 per dollar after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pulled his nomination for Arturo Herrera to head the central bank next year and said he would propose senior finance ministry official Victoria Rodriguez for the post. read more The fact that Rodriguez has already worked in the public sector should help market perception, said Wilson Ferrarezi, Brazil economist at TS Lombard. But her stance remains to be seen given the president was seen nominating someone with a more dovish bias, and the sudden change adds to volatility, he said. Mexican annual inflation accelerated faster than expected in the first half of November to more than 7%, the highest rate in over 20 years, adding to pressure on the central bank to tighten borrowing costs further. "Inflation jumped to a two-decade high earlier this month but, with the recovery showing further signs of weakness, we think that the central bank"s tightening cycle will remain gradual," said economists at Capital Economics. Falling oil prices also weighed on the peso, as they did on exporter Colombia"s currency which slipped 0.8% to more than three-month lows. Higher copper prices cushioned declines in Chile"s peso which dipped 0.1%, posting the smallest declines among peers. Brazil"s consumer confidence index hitting a seven-month low in November kept the real from making significant gains. Emerging market stocks (.MSCIEF) gave up meager gains to slip for a sixth straight session, down 0.3%. Russian stocks (.IMOEX) erased early gains to trade 0.3% lower, while Brazil"s Bovespa index (.BVSP) was led lower by consumer stocks. Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1901 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets (.MSCIEF) 1251.96 -0.27 MSCI LatAm (.MILA00000PUS) 2096.94 0.7 Brazil Bovespa (.BVSP) 104203.01 0.53 Mexico IPC (.MXX) 50760.65 -0.7 Chile IPSA (.SPIPSA) 4629.19 -1.46 Argentina MerVal (.MERV) 83517.41 -0.302 Colombia COLCAP (.COLCAP) 1320.32 0.3 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.5899 0.29 Mexico peso 21.4000 -1.05 Chile peso 814 -0.15 Colombia peso 3976.73 -0.82 Peru sol 4.0144 -0.42 Argentina peso (interbank) 100.6200 -0.04 Argentina peso (parallel) 197.5 1.77