Istanbul stocks hit 5-month low, drop below 9,000

Despite opening Monday’s session with a 1.35% gain in the benchmark BIST 100 index and climbing as much as 3.62% at the intraday high, Borsa Istanbul lost momentum in the afternoon and turned negative, falling below 9,000 points — its lowest level in five months.

As of 2.35 p.m. local time (1135 GMT), losses in BIST 100 deepened down to 8,876.02 by a 1.86% decline compared to the previous close. However, the index started another rise by 2.40 p.m, standing at 9,140.24 points with a 1.06% rise as of 3.10 p.m.

As of 10:10 a.m. local time (7:10 a.m. GMT), the BIST 100 index extended its recovery, rising by more than 3.62% to 9,372.45 points at the intraday high.

On the other hand, currency exchange rates remained steady, with USD/TRY at 38.0030, EUR/TRY at 41.2223, and GBP/TRY at 49.2047 as of 3.25 p.m.

The BIST 100 index finished Friday sharply lower, losing 7.81% to end the week at 9,044.64 points, with total trading activity reaching ₺162.2 billion ($4.28 billion).

87 companies launch share buyback programs

Following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday, Türkiye’s top economic officials, led by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, convened an urgent meeting to address market stability.

Subsequently, the Turkish Capital Markets Board (SPK) introduced several critical measures aimed at calming investor concerns and stabilizing the markets ahead of Monday’s opening.

These measures include a ban on short-selling, simplified share buyback procedures, and relaxed equity ratio requirements for leveraged transactions to maintain sufficient market liquidity.

SPK’s recent easing of rules on share repurchases, implemented to mitigate the ongoing stock market decline, allowed a total of 87 companies to initiate buyback plans starting from midweek. Some companies listed on Borsa Istanbul announced one-time share repurchases, while others initiated comprehensive 12-month buyback programs.

Under the latest SPK regulations, repurchased shares cannot be resold for a period of 30 days. Analysts believe these buybacks at lower share prices may strengthen the companies’ financial positions in the medium to long term.

Meanwhile, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek dismissed resignation rumors spread by main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Sunday evening, reassuring markets of his continued commitment to stability and investor confidence.