Turkish cbank net FX reserves plunge Trading volumes light ahead of Christmas Chinese stocks hit by COVID, regulatory concerns Dec 24 (Reuters) - The Turkish lira took a breather on Friday after a historic rally from record lows this week, while emerging markets currencies and stocks were broadly steady in thin trading with Chinese equities hit by a local outbreak of COVID-19. The lira eased to 11.7 per dollar - though after having strengthened to 10.25 on Thursday, its strongest level in over a month, following a series of measures by the government and central bank to prop up the currency. read more The Turkish central bank"s net international reserves were down to $12.16 billion as of Dec. 17, levels last touched in May, data showed, reflecting recent open-market interventions that have run to $6-$10 billion this month. read more President Tayyip Erdogan unveiled new measures this week aimed at guarding local currency savings against currency fluctuations, driving a sharp rebound in lira, which hit a record low of 18.4 a dollar on Monday. The currency is on course to notch its best weekly run ever, with a near 40% gain, after spiralling lower in the recent months after a series of interest rate cuts and a surge in inflation. "Turkey local markets continue to exhibit high volatility," Morgan Stanley"s Min Dai said in a note. "A small UW (underweight) in both bonds and FX by almost all real-money investors generated significant positive alpha in the past two months. With poor liquidity, investors are likely to continue to keep UW or neutral positions in Turkey." YTD performance YTD performance Broadly, the MSCI"s index of EM currencies (.MIEM00000CUS) edged up with the South African rand and the Russian rouble extending recent gains on easing concerns around the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Russia"s President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the country wants to avoid conflict with Ukraine and the West, but needs an "immediate" response from the United States and its allies to its demands for security guarantees. read more Investors have been concerned about geopolitical risks, with Ukraine at the centre of East-West tensions after the United States and Kyiv accused Russia of preparing a new attack on its southern neighbour, an allegation Moscow denies. Meanwhile, an index of EM equities (.MSCIEF) was little changed as trading volumes dwindled ahead of Christmas and New Year holidays and with several regional markets closed. Shanghai shares (.CSI300), (.SSEC) closed lower as rising COVID-19 infections in China"s city of Xian spurred a lockdown of its 13 million residents, and several companies said their operations have been affected. read more Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation that bans imports from China"s Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labour. read more For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX For TOP NEWS across emerging markets For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see