Turkey Wake-up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 1st April

BIST eked out a 0.14% gain yesterday as the strength in selective blue-chip names helped the index buck the losses in European peers. Banks were weaker with the 0.61% loss in their sector index as ISCTR and YKBNK reversed some of Wednesday's gains. TUPRS, ARCLK, ENKAI, TTKOM, TAVHL, DOAS, NTHOL, KARSN, and ISMEN stood out among the gainers while SAHOL, TOASO, BIMAS, SOKM, TKFEN, OYAKC, SELEC, INDES, TRGYO, and HEKTS topped the non-bank decliners. Coming to this morning, our local macro agenda involves March'22 PMI that will be announced at 10AM local time. The index had retreated 0.2% on a sequential basis to a 9-month low of 50.4 in February, while staying in expansion territory for the ninth consecutive month after the loosening of pandemic restrictions. Separately, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce will reveal its March'22 inflation numbers for metropolitan Istanbul at noon local time. Lastly, S&P has a scheduled review of Turkey's sovereign rating for today and any related announcements are expected to be released after markets close. The agency rates Turkey at B+, four notches below investment grade, with a Negative outlook. S&P is broadly expected to affirm Turkey's rating at B+ as only 2 out of 8 economists surveyed by ForeksTurkey anticipate a one notch downgrade to B. BIST seems off to an uptick open given the domestic newsflow regarding blue chips. Lira is stable as the USDTRY pair is cruising around the 14.67 mark.