Turkey: can stocks go any higher? | beyondbrics

How much higher can Turkish stocks go? The Istanbul market slipped 1.6 per cent in profit-taking on Friday. But that still leaves it within a whisker of the all-time high hit on Thursday, when the ISE 100 index closed at 72,552.

Turkish stocks have gained 46 per cent this year, making Turkey the third-best equity market in the world, behind only Venezuela and Egypt. The bulls put a lot of weight on hopes that Fitch might next week become the first international credit agency to raise Turkey to investment grade. But the bears aren’t convinced that this will happen – or that, even if Fitch delivers, that there’s much scope for further advances in equities.

The immediate cause of Friday’s dip in the market, was a Hurriyet newspaper report that Turkish banks would be fined for colluding on setting interest rates. Banks finished 2.4 per cent down, dragging down the ISE 100.

* username: rupertbu