Newsletters
Istanbul stocks slid sharply on Monday as continued liquidation of troubled investment funds fueled a fresh wave of selling across the Turkish market, while Türkiye’s credit risk premium climbed to its highest level since May.
The benchmark BIST 100 opened at 12,689.87 points, down 1.6%, or 209.47 points, from Friday’s close, before plunging more than 3% during the session. It had edged up 0.1% on Friday to 12,899.35 points, with daily trading volume reaching ₺99 billion ($2 billion).
Losses spread across the market, with every sectoral index in negative territory. Industrial stocks suffered the steepest decline at more than 4%, while banking shares fell over 2%.
Just five BIST 100 constituents stayed in positive territory: Grainturk gained 6.7%, Efor Yatirim rose 5.4%, Migros advanced 1.1%, Mia Teknoloji added 0.7%, and Arcelik climbed 0.4%.
Meanwhile, Türkiye’s five-year credit default swap (CDS) climbed above 250 basis points, hitting its highest level since May 2026. Among emerging markets, Türkiye ranks second for the highest risk premium, behind Argentina at 703 basis points.
The CDS had surged in mid-March, reaching 311.12 basis points in early April 2026, its highest level in 52 weeks, amid deeper capital outflows linked to the Iran war. It began easing from mid-April and continued to decline gradually through July and August.
That trend reversed as risk pressures returned following the fund turmoil. The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) sold more than $6 billion from its net reserves during the week ending Sept. 18, according to official figures reported the previous week.
Two-year Turkish government bond yields also stood at around 40.4% on Monday.
The latest sell-off came as authorities continue to deal with a liquidity downturn that has spread through the investment fund market. The turmoil intensified in mid-September after Pusula Portfoy was unable to meet some investor redemption requests, prompting a rush by investors to withdraw money from local funds.
The pressure was amplified by the structure of some of the funds' portfolios. They had built concentrated positions in thinly traded stocks with limited free float, making it difficult to raise cash quickly when investors sought their money back. Managers consequently had to sell more liquid shares to meet redemption demands, helping push the broader stock market lower.
The Capital Markets Board (CMB) responded by ordering the liquidation of funds managed by seven portfolio companies and closing their funds to purchases and redemptions. The regulator initially announced the liquidation of 131 funds and 455,758 unique investors, with the initial 3-month deadline extended to 6 months.
On Monday, authorities lifted asset-freeze orders on 45 companies, including publicly listed firms, in a move aimed at preventing the investigation from disrupting normal business operations and the wider economy.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
