Turkey Wake up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 23rd July

BIST eked out a 0.03% gain after spending the bulk of the day in the positive territory yesterday. Index opened higher and hopped above the 119k level in early trades. But the gains were reversed amid pressure on global markets on rising U.S.-China tensions although benchmark BIST100 managed to stay in the positive territory apart from brief incursions to red for a couple of times. Banking index was up 0.16% as ISCTR and GARAN caught some bids while YKBNK and HALKB were weaker. EKGYO, ASELS, TATGD, DOAS, KOZAA, and KRDMD led the non-bank gainers while GUBRF, MPARK, AEFES, BIZIM, and ZOREN stood out among the decliners. Today, our key macro highlight will be the monthly Monetary Policy Council meeting today with the decision on policy rates due 2PM local time. Consensus (Bloomberg survey) unanimously calls for the CBT to keep its benchmark weekly repo rate unchanged at 8.25%. Separately, July'20 Consumer Confidence Index compiled by TurkStat due 10AM today. The index had jumped 5.2% from a month ago to a 14-month high of 62.6 in June. We foresee a sideways open with a positive bias for the BIST given 0.3-0.5% overnight increases in key American indices after the time we left. U.S. futures are up a few points in early trades while Asian equities are trading mixed.