ISTANBUL: Turkish assets fell sharply on Friday on a surprise surge in US jobs data for October that raised expectations the Federal Reserve could soon begin scaling back its stimulus, drying up cheap funds to emerging markets.

US employers added 204,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, well above forecasts for 125,000 extra jobs, suggesting October's government shutdown did not make a large dent in the world's largest economy.

Delays in a cut in the United States $85 billion monthly stimulus scheme has given Turkey's central bank breathing room and allowed it to avoid interest rate hikes to support the lira, in favor of less orthodox dollar sales and repo cancellations.

The Federal Reserve wanted to gauge the impact of last month's government shutdown and budget impasse before reining in the programme. Investors bet that such a surprise on the upside would bring tapering closer.