Turkey Wake-up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 17th November

BIST inched up 0.13% yesterday as the afternoon sell-off erased almost all of the earlier gains above 1.4% as Turkish stocks underperformed European peers that were buoyed by reports of a new successful vaccine. Index opened gap higher and climbed to 1,310 in early hours before starting a gradual retreat that intensified after 5PM. Banks lost 0.10% on average amid profit taking in YKBNK and ISCTR. DOAS, TTRAK, FROTO, aviation stocks, MPARK, YATAS, and EGEEN stood out as top non-bank gainers while TTKOM, ENJSA, AEFES, EREGL, KCHOL, and SAHOL were among the weaker names. Today, our local macro agenda is muted while we will keep an eye on the cabinet meeting to be chaired by President Erdogan at 3:30PM local time after which further restrictive measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus are expected to be announced. BIST seems off to a flattish start given mixed signals from abroad and some gains in lira (USDTRY just below the 7.70 mark vs 7.7257 at yesterday's closing bell). U.S. futures are down 0.5% in early trades in reversal of the overnight gains of the same magnitude after we left and Asian indices are cruising in different directions.