Turkey - Factors to Watch on March 19
19/03/2020 04:58
ISTANBUL, March 19 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and
events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Thursday.
The lira TRYTOM=D3 stood at 6.4975 against the dollar at
0458 GMT, weakening from a close of 6.4825 on Wednesday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond TR10YT=RR rose to
12.83% on Wednesday from 12.78% on Tuesday.
The main BIST 100 share index .XU100 fell 1.38% on
Wednesday to 85,576.61 points.
GLOBAL MARKETS
The dollar surged and everything else was blown away on
Thursday as emergency central bank measures in Europe, the
United States and Australia failed to halt a fresh wave of panic
selling. Stocks, bonds, gold and commodities fell as the world
struggles to contain coronavirus and investors and businesses
scramble for hard cash. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BC1ER
CORONAVIRUS
President Tayyip Erdogan advised Turks on Wednesday not to
leave home unless necessary for three weeks and to minimise
social contact until the threat of the coronavirus recedes, but
he did not tell them to stay away from work. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2BB74P
Turkey subsequently announced a second coronavirus death and
said the number of confirmed cases of the highly contagious
respiratory illness had nearly doubled to 191 after it ramped up
steps to combat the virus' spread, closing cafes, banning mass
prayers and halting flights to 20 countries.
ECONOMIC PACKAGE
Erdogan also said Turkey would postpone debt payments and
reduce tax burdens in various sectors under a 100 billion lira
($15.4 billion) package to support the economy and lessen the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
CLOTHING RETAILERS SHUT SHOPS
Turkish clothing retailers, including Mavi Giyim MAVI.IS
and Vakko Tekstil VAKKO.IS , are temporarily shutting stores in
response to the spread of a coronavirus, they said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2BC0LI
FORD OTOSAN FROTO.IS
The automaker said it was suspending production activities
for two weeks at factories in Turkey. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2BB1F3
HALKBANK HALKB.IS
The bank said it was to start share a buyback programme for
up to 12.00 billion shares with up to a maximum 750.0 million
lira funding. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2BB15E
BORDER CLOSURES
Turkey's land borders with Greece and Bulgaria have been
closed to entry and exit of passengers as a measure against the
coronavirus outbreak, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on
Wednesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nI7N29Z01O
MINISTERS SPEAK
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca will brief lawmakers about
the fight against coronavirus in parliament, while Education
Minister Ziya Selcuk will give an interview to state-owned
Anadolu news agency (0800 GMT).
For other related news, double click on:
Turkish politics TR-POL
Turkish equities TR-E
Turkish money TR-M
Turkish debt TR-D
Turkish hot stocks TR-HOT
Forex news FRX
All emerging market news EMRG
All Turkish news TR
For real-time quotes, double click on:
Istanbul National-100 stock index .XU100 , interbank lira
trading IYIX= , lira bond trading 0#TRTSYSUM=IS
(Reporting by Daren Butler)
((daren.butler@tr.com; +90-212-350 7053; Reuters Messaging:
daren.butler.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))