Turkish shares open lower

By Fatih Erkan Dogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish shares opened lower on Monday morning following the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s remarks Friday, who hinted that rate hikes were now stronger than before.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST-100 share index lost 372.79 points or 0.48 percent to open at 76,746.86 in the opening session of the first trading day of the week.

In the morning, the Turkish lira began trading at 2.9579 against the U.S. dollar, down from 2.9543 at Friday’s close, which was up 0.12 percent.

Yellen last Friday said during her Jackson Hole meeting: “In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months."

Her remarks reinforced the forecast of at least one rate hike from Federal Reserve till the end of the year, which would limit capital flow to emerging markets to a significant extent.

On Friday, BIST100 index closed 0.4 percent up at 77,120 amid continued reactionary buying, led by the 1.3 percent rise of the banking sector index.

Also, the U.S. dollar added to gains made against emerging market currencies after Yellen indicated a U.S. interest rate increase remained on the cards for this year.

There are no major local data releases on Monday, however, the local market would be following the July personal income and spending data from the world largest economy, the U.S.

Turkish markets will be closed on Tuesday due to a national holiday.

On Friday, the local fixed income markets were relatively flat. The two-year benchmark bond ended at 9.01 percent, only one base point above its previous close.