Turkey’s main stock index falls after election stalemate
The Turkish stock market rallied last week as opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu gained momentum in the race to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish stocks fell significantly on Monday morning following the tightly contested election on Sunday. The results will likely lead to a runoff between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 opened at a loss of more than 6% before recovering to an approximately 2.6% loss at around 6:40 a.m. ET, according to market data. The dramatic fall prompted regulatory authorities to temporarily halt trading, according to multiple reports.
Background: Sunday’s elections in Turkey ended with Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu both receiving more than 40% of the vote, according to the latest results. With neither achieving the more than 50% required for a victory in the first round, the country is likely heading to a runoff vote on May 28. Erdogan has been in power for 20 years, making him the longest-serving leader in the country's history.
Why it matters: The performance of the Turkish stock market could reflect investors’ concerns about Erdogan. Bank stocks in Turkey rallied significantly last week as investors bet on Erdogan losing, according to Bloomberg.
