Posted by meb at November 5th, 2008

Turkish stocks fell in profit-taking on Wednesday, tracking global moves and hit by concerns over Turkey’s hesitancy to sign an IMF deal while the lira gave up early gains.

The lira opened more than 2 percent higher at 1.47 levels against the dollar as investors cheered a victory by Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election. But the currency traded softer over 1.50 levels after European markets opened lower.

Obama captured the White House on Tuesday after an extraordinary two-year campaign, defeating Republican John McCain to make history as the first black U.S. president.

Turkish stocks were 1.04 percent lower at 29,037 points, underperforming an emerging market index that was up 1.67 percent. European stocks were trading 1.44 percent down on Wednesday morning.

Turkey is taking its cue from what is happening abroad, the FTSE is down. We’ve been performing strongly since October 24, so it’s natural that the markets take a breather,’ Reuters quoted Fazil Zobu from Istanbul based brokerage Dundas Unlu, as saying.

Zobu also said news from the United States that Turkey had not reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was a source of disapointment for the market.

‘The IMF deal will affect the market and it is important that Turkey signs a deal with the IMF, but the government will want to pursue its populist policies for as long as possible,’ Zobu added.

The Turkish government has kicked off the process for a precautionary stand-by agreement with the IMF, which will include a loan of at least $10 billion, media reports said on Tuesday.

However, an IMF spokesperson said on Tuesday that Turkey had not requested a loan program from the fund but that it continued to consider its options.

Turkey has been holding talks with the IMF for a potential precautionary stand-by loan to partly address market worries, however the government recently reiterated that it would not sign a deal unless it was flexible.

DOLLAR UPS VS MAJOR CURRENCIES

The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday after posting its biggest one-day slide in 13 years the previous day, as Democrat Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election.

Dollar buying kicked in shortly after media projected a victory by Obama as the outlook for a change in the ruling party helped investors become slightly more hopeful about the outlook for the United States.

The dollar rose 0.8 percent against a basket of major currencies to 85.268 after falling around 2.5 percent on Tuesday for its biggest one-day drop in 13 years.

Asian markets jumped Wednesday, with energy and exporter shares holding on to their sharp gains as investors hoped the U.S. President-elect Obama’s administration will reinvigorate the world’s largest economy.

Tokyo’s Nikkei climbed 4 percent on Wednesday, extended its rebound from a 26-year intra-day low hit below 7,000 last month.
source: Hurriyet daily

Related posts:

  1. Turkish lira hits all time low against dollar on global economic worries
  2. Turkish stocks fall on global weakness, U.S. dollar rises
  3. Turkish lira firms 2 percent after holiday, stocks steady
  4. Turkish stocks up nearly 10 pct tracking global markets
  5. Moody’s warns Turkish economy to fall into recession without IMF deal