Turkey Wake-up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 10th March

BIST climbed 1.56% in its third consecutive day of gains as stocks gained further traction in a broad-based move although the index continued to get stuck below the 2,050 resistance. Banks outperformed with the 2.68% gain in their sector index as AKBNK and YKBNK caught some bids. KCHOL, ENKAI, aviation stocks, TOASO, HEKTS, SASA, DOHOL, ISGYO, and ISMEN led the non-bank gainers while Koza Group names, steelmakers, ASELS, ALKIM, and DEVA stood out among the few decliners in the BIST100 universe. Coming to this morning, we have a pretty busy diplomatic agenda as President Erdogan will hold a phone call with American President Joe Biden at 6:30PM local time. Separately, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu will host a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Antalya starting at 11AM in the highest level contact between the two countries since Russia-Ukraine war has begun. On the macro front, unemployment statistics for January'22 will be released at 10AM. Seasonally-adjusted unemployment had inched down 0.1pp from a month ago to 11.2% in December as the 236k monthly increase in the number of employed had made up for the 238k climb in labour force (labour force participation was sequentially up 0.3pp to 52.9%). BIST seems headed for a higher start on the back of the upbeat sentiment in global equity markets and the retreat in crude oil prices. S&P futures are down a few points in early trades as they reverse part of the c.0.5% overnight gains after we left while Asian bourses are all trading in the green.