Global turmoil hits Turkish stock market
Posted by meb at January 17th, 2008
Fears of a recession in the United States pulled the Turkish stock market to levels not seen since September, as the benchmark IMKB National-100 index tumbled below the key 50,000-point mark for the first time in 2008.
The IMKB index tumbled to as low as 48,236 at 14:15 but then gained ground and closed the day at 49,093, losing 1,283 points that is 2.55 percent of its value. The index had closed at 50,377 Tuesday.
Istanbul’s stock market became to be the fifth worst-performer of 2008, reported the Anatolia news agency. The worst-performing stock markets include Oslo (a fall of 15.51 percent), Vienna (14.17 percent), Prague (13.76 percent), Copenhagen (13.03 percent) and Istanbul (12.27 percent.)
Such fluctuations were expected, said Seyfettin Gürsel, a columnist at business daily Referans. Speaking to the Turkish Daily News, Gürsel said he does not think the U.S. is entering recession. On the domestic front, Gürsel does not expect high losses in the stock market, but “fluctuations could result in a cash outflow.”
Economist Mustafa Sönmez, meanwhile, said such fluctuations are “vital for the global economies.”
“If such fluctuations continue, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) could play the interest rate card,” Sönmez said. “Turkey should use Fed’s approach. In the short term, IMKB will be a bearish market,” as Turkey could experience a dampening of demand.
Metin Münir, columnist for daily Milliyet, said the global credit crunch ripples through the United States and is spreading to Britain, causing a devaluation of the pound sterling.
“Turkey, with its high budget deficit and overvalued currency, is open to dangers,” he said. “Interest policies are a favorable choice to cushion fluctuations.”
“The [Hong Kong] Hang Seng is down 5 percent, China is down three; I don’t think we should set a limit (downward for the Turkish index),” said Ayşe Çolak, research director at Tera Stockbrokers, to Reuters. “This is not fundamentals-driven, it’s driven by sentiment. People are now in a panic, there are no buyers.”
Source: Turkish Daily News
Related posts: