Turkey Wake up call: Macro, Political and Equity News, 24th July

BIST added 0.81% yesterday after a day totally spent in the positive territory. After an uptick start that marked its lowest point of the day, BIST100 gradually climbed to 119.6k by early afternoon. Some profit taking followed, trimming part of the daily gains. Banks were laggards with the 0.09% increase in their sector index as VAKBN, AKBNK, and ISCTR closed lower. BIMAS, ASELS, TAVHL, PGSUS, ENKAI, TUPRS, ZOREN, EGEEN, and AGHOL stood out among the non-bank gainers while EKGYO, TRGYO, DOAS, TOASO, TATGD, MPARK, TTRAK, and BIZIM topped the decliners. Today, our local macro is muted apart from S&P's scheduled review of Turkey's sovereign rating for which any announcements are expected to be released after markets close. The agency rates Turkey at B+, four notches below investment grade, with a stable outlook. The 15 economists surveyed by Foreks unanimously predict S&P to affirm its rating and outlook for Turkey in today's review. BIST is off to a negative start given the sour sentiment in global markets on U.S.-China tensions as well as global growth concerns. U.S. futures are down c.0.4% in early trades on top of the 0.8-1.0% overnight losses after the hour we left. Asian equity markets are all trading in the red with the Chinese benchmarks feeling the brunt of the sell-off.