Bulls Push Turkey Stocks to Record as France Spurs Risk Appetite

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish stocks climbed to an all-time high on Monday, boosted by renewed risk appetite in global markets, a relief rally following the country’s recent referendum and expectations for a strong earnings season.

The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index rose 1.5 percent to 93,802.81 points at the close in Istanbul, as the appeal for riskier assets grew following the first round of voting France’s presidential elections. That’s helping Turkish stocks retain their place among the top five performers in global equity markets this year.

“Increased risk appetite is lending the market its needed support in the run up to the record” Gulsen Ayaz, the head of institutional sales and trading at Istanbul-based Deniz Invest, said by email. “Also a big uncertainty domestically -- the referendum -- is out of the way. Add relatively attractive valuations and a strong earnings season. All these are helping Turkish stocks.’

Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen won through to a run off after the first round of France’s presidential elections, eliminating investors’ most-feared scenario. A snap poll from late Sunday suggested Macron would defeat Le Pen by more than 20 percentage points in the second round.

Turks voted on April 16 in favor of constitutional amendments endowing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with new, vast executive powers, an outcome that removed a source of political uncertainty for investors and assured them of a continuation of the status quo.

The Borsa Istanbul 100 is heading for a fifth straight monthly advance, which would be the longest winning streak since 2013. The gains have taken its 2017 rally to 20 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tugce Ozsoy in Istanbul at tozsoy1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Namitha Jagadeesh, John Viljoen