Turkish stocks open higher

By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday before the Turkish Central Bank announces its interest rate decision later in the day.

The Borsa Istanbul’s BIST-100 share index rose 268.94 points (0.535 percent) to 78,222.1 at opening of Tuesday’s session, with banking and holding sectors up 0.43 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively.

On Tuesday, the Turkish lira began trading at under 2.94 against the U.S. dollar, up from 2.9414 at Monday’s close.

Meanwhile, global stock markets wavered in general Monday as investors remained on the edge ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to give a speech Friday that could include policy changes, although a shift in the interest rate is not expected.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST-100, the country’s benchmark index, closed down at 0.25 percent (192.32 points) lower at 77,953.27.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank’s monetary policy committee is due to meet Tuesday to decide on potential changes to the overnight lending rate following recent reductions over the last four months.

The overnight lending rate, which is the rate at which banks borrow from the Central Bank overnight, went from 9 percent to 8.75 percent at the bank’s last meeting in July.

On Tuesday, the Turkey’s Treasury will hold an auction for a five-year fixed-coupon bond having semiannual coupon rates of 5.35 percent.