* Emerging shares up ahead of Fed, helped by Greece news
* Dubai shares up on restructuring hopes
* Turkish shares recover; Polish zloty rises
By Sebastian Tong
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Emerging assets stayed firm on
Tuesday, holding steady at recent multi-week highs and hopes of
an investor-friendly resolution to the debt restructuring of
Dubai's leading state-owned firm sent the emirate's shares up.
Turkish shares snapped a five-day losing streak after data
showed improving consumer confidence while the Polish zloty
edged higher helped by policymaker talk of rate tightening.
Recovering from a nearly one percent fall in the previous
day, emerging shares <.MSCIEF> were 0.4 percent higher by 1155
GMT while emerging sovereign debt <11EMJ> narrowed three basis
points to trade at 257 bps over U.S. Treasuries, its tightest
levels since June 2008.
Investor mood is mildly positive, bolstered by the agreement
within the euro zone to help fiscally stricken member Greece
rapidly if needed. European Union ministers are meeting on
Tuesday to discuss standby plans drawn up by the 16-country
monetary union. []
The Federal Reserve meeting later in the day is also
expected to conclude with an affirmation of the U.S. central
bank's commitment to low interest rates. []
"The market is taking a breath - we've had substantial moves
in stocks and emerging currencies in the past few weeks. We are
likely to be at a turning point because of the Fed statement
tonight and its impact on the dollar, which is important for
investors in emerging/dollar crosses," said Murat Toprak,
emerging markets strategist at Societe Generale.
Hungarian shares <> rose for the eighth consecutive
session to hit two-year peaks while Romanian shares <>
climbed to 19-month peaks.
Turkish shares <> leapt by over one percent, with
investors cheered by figures showing consumer sentiment rising
last month. []
Data revealing a 69 percent reduction in the country's
budget deficit in February also supported sentiment, helping the
lira firm against the dollar.<TRY=>
ZLOTY UP
Emerging currencies were broadly stronger with some testing
recent multi-month highs.
Hungary's forint advanced for the third straight day to
reach a five-month high against the euro <EURHUF=>.
Undeterred by economy minister warnings that a strong
exchange rate could hurt growth, Russia's rouble held onto gains
that took it to 15-month highs against its dollar-euro currency
basket <RUS=MCX> it reached on Monday. []
The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> edged higher following comments
from a central banker that rates are likely to rise at the end
of this year to head off inflationary pressures but remained off
the 15-month highs it scaled last week. []
The Czech crown <EURCZK=> was kept on the back pedal after
data showed a larger drop in January retail sales than
anticipated, retreating further away the four-month highs it
reached against the euro on Friday. []
Meanwhile, investors are still awaiting a formal debt
restructuring offer from Dubai for the $26 billion owed by its
leading conglomerate Dubai World [] but reports of
possible favourable offers were enough to drive its share index
<> to a nine-week closing high.
Benign market conditions are expected to prompt more
emerging market sovereign borrowers to launch Eurobond sales.
Egypt is said to have mandated banks to arrange a $1-1.5 billion
foreign bond issue, its first since 2007. []
(Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Ruth
Pitchford)
