Turkish markets up post Fed decision to hold rates

ANKARA (AA) - Borsa Istanbul opened higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee decided to keep rates on hold late Wednesday.

The BIST 100 index advanced sharply to 78,856.15 points, up 940.26 points or 1.21 percent, at open, which was in line with many global stock markets since the Fed's monetary policy members opted to wait a little more for more positive data before a rate hike, which is seen as vitally important for markets worldwide.

The Fed's decision came after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) changed the framework of its quantitative easing scheme early Wednesday, suggesting that a monetary policy was easier than the current one.

Boosted by optimism sourced by the BoJ's move, BIST 100 index went up 0.78 percent on Wednesday, closing the day at 77,915.89 points, despite some investors preferring to be in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the critical Fed decision.

Also, the Turkish lira largely benefited from the Fed and BoJ decisions as the U.S. dollar versus Turkish lira rate, which was at 2.9768 the previous day at close of markets at 5.30 p.m. local time (1430 GMT), tumbled to 2.9530 at opening of markets at 9.30 a.m. (0630 GMT), or down 0.8 percent.

During the day, the markets are expected to closely watch the consumer confidence index for September and monetary policy committee statement from the Central Bank of Turkey, which is due in the afternoon at 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT).