Turkey Wake-up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 21st December

BIST ended 1.35% yesterday after another day of intense volatility during which the benchmark index swung in an 11.3% range. After trading in positive ground during the mid-day, BIST100 took a dive after 3PM to dip at 1,914 before staging a 170-point rebound in the last hour. Banks lost 2.15% on average with GARAN visibly outperforming peers. TTKOM, ARCLK FROTO, EREGL, ISMDR, AKSA, SELEC, and AKSEN led the non-bank gainers for the day while TOASO, BIMAS, SOKM, ULKER, TURSG, GUBRF, EKGYO, and CCOLA were among the weak spots. Today, our local macro agenda involves December'21 Consumer Confidence Index compiled by TurkStat due 10AM today. In the revised series, the index had slumped 7.3% on a sequential basis to 71.1 in November, the lowest level recorded since the data series was commenced in 2004. BIST seems off to a positive but mixed start as the massive overnight rebound in lira (USDTRY at 12.15 levels vs 17.8769 at yesterday's closing bell) following government's measures to bolster the currency may lure buyers to banks while industrials/exporters that benefitted from TRY weakness may face some profit-taking. Supportive mood abroad should also help the local sentiment as U.S. futures are up 0.8% in early trades and Asian bourses are all trading in the green.