Türkiye New Updates

ISTANBUL: The Turkish benchmark stock index opened Wednesday at 10.171,09 points, down slightly by 2.3 points over the previous close. At Tuesday's close, the BIST 100 index rose by 1.17% to 10,173.42 points, with a daily transaction volume of 104 billion liras ($3.22 billion). The US dollar/Turkish lira (USD/TRY) exchange rate was 32.2755 as of 10.15 a.m. (0715GMT), the EUR/TRY rate stood at 34.9910, while the GBP/TRY rate was 40.6565. The price of one ounce of gold was $2,361.60, and the barrel price of Brent oil was around $82.70. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Both oil benchmarks surged on Wednesday with increased demand in the US, the world's largest oil-consuming country, and concerns of supply disruptions from Canadian wildfires spreading to oil production regions. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $82.95 per barrel at 10.39 a.m. local time (0739 GMT), a rise of 0.69% from the closing price of $82.38 per barrel in the previous trading session. American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $78.62 per barrel at the same time, a 0.77% increase from the previous session that closed at $78.02 per barrel. The US market had expected a decline in US commercial crude oil stocks of 1.35 million barrels, but the American Petroleum Institute predicted a drop of 3.10 million barrels last week, which exceeded forecasts and indicated increased demand in the US. Market players are awaiting the publication of official data later in the day from the US Energy Information Administration on inventory stocks. The weakening of the US dollar again st other currencies also aided the rise in prices. The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar's value against other currencies, fell 0.12% to 104.765. A weaker dollar is anticipated to enhance demand by making oil cheaper for other currency holders and traders. Concern about wildfires in Canada spreading to oil-producing regions is raising the risk of supply disruptions and driving up prices. Uncontrollable forest fires in Canada, which started on Saturday, continue to affect thousands of acres of land, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes. Last year saw production cuts of 300,000 barrels per day due to forest fires in the country. In addition, the prospects of global oil supply disruptions from conflicts both in the Middle East and the Red Sea, one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments, continue to influence prices. The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies that are transpor ting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Yemen's Houthi group said late Tuesday that the US and UK conducted a fresh series of joint air strikes targeting Al Hudaydah airport in the west of the country. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Trkiye's central government budget saw a deficit of 117.8 billion Turkish liras ($5.5 billion) in April, according to official data released on Wednesday. Budget revenues reached 595.8 billion liras ($18.4 billion), while expenditures totaled 773.6 billion liras ($23.9 billion) last month, the Treasury and Finance Ministry figures showed. Non-interest expenditures came in at 659.6 billion liras ($20.4 billion), while interest payments reached 114 billion liras ($3.5 billion). Excluding interest payments, the budget balance ran a deficit of 63.8 billion liras (nearly $2 billion), while tax revenues totaled 487.9 billion liras ($15.1 billion). Cumulative figure In January-April, the budget balance posted a deficit of 691.3 billion liras ($22.1 billion). Budget revenues reached 2.2 trillion liras ($71.3 billion) in the first four months of this year, while expenditures amounted to 2.9 trillion liras ($93.4 billion). A US dollar traded for 32.3506 liras on average in April, and for 31.3212 liras on average in the four-month period. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro area increased 0.3% quarter-on-quarter this January-March, shifting from a 0.1% contraction in the previous two quarters, according to a flash estimate on Wednesday. This is the strongest quarterly GDP growth since the third quarter of 2022, Eurostat data showed. The GDP in the full EU also rose 0.3% from the previous three month period in the first quarter, after being stagnated in the previous two quarters. Germany, Europe's largest economy, saw a 0.2% growth in the first quarter of 2024 after contracting by 0.5% in the final quarter of 2023. On an annual basis, the GDP increased 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU in three months to March. The eurozone/euro area, or EA19, represents member states that use the bloc's single currency, the euro, while the EU27 includes all of its member countries. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Eurozone's industrial production growth lost momentum compared to a month ago in March, according to data released on Wednesday. Industrial output in the euro area rose 0.6% from a month ago in March, easing from February's upwardly revised 1% hike, Eurostat data showed.? Production climbed by 1% for capital goods while it fell by 2.7% for non-durable consumer goods, 1.1% for durable goods, 0.9% for energy, and 0.5% for intermediate goods. In the EU, industrial production grew 0.2% in March after a 0.9% monthly increase in February. On an annual basis, industrial production fell 1.0% in both the euro area and the EU. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Bitcoin on Wednesday climbed above the $65,000 level again with a daily gain of more than 6%. The last time the world's biggest cryptocurrency was above that level was recorded on May 6. The price of Bitcoin was trading just above that level at 1.16 p.m. EDT (1716GMT) for a daily gain of 6.1%, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website. Bitcoin on May 1 plummeted below the $57,000 level for the first time in more than two months, which marked its lowest level since Feb. 27. The cryptocurrency market experienced a selloff during that period as investors' demand for Bitcoin fell following its halving last month, and Binance's former CEO and co-founder was sentenced to four months in prison. The recent rebound, however, came after US consumer inflation in April showed a slowdown from the previous month earlier Wednesday, which raised hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin lowering interest rates this September. Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market cap, was up almost 3% to $2,976 at 1.19 p.m. EDT (1719GMT), while some altcoins saw their daily prices gain as much as 13%. The value of the cryptocurrency market stood at $2.35 trillion, while Bitcoin's share of the crypto market, known as dominance, was at 54.5% and Ethereum's dominance was at 15.2%. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Fitch Ratings said Wednesday that Turkish debt capital market (DCM) was buoyed by improved investor confidence with a shift toward more conventional macroeconomic policies. Turkish DCM will continue to be driven primarily by sovereign financing, funding diversification goals, and the Islamic finance development agenda over the next two years, it said in a report. "The recent revival in foreign-currency debt issuances is a sign of lower near-term refinancing risks due to improved investor sentiment since Trkiye's adoption of more conventional macroeconomic policies," said Bashar Al Natoor, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Fitch Ratings. The rating agency expects banks and corporates to maintain a smaller DCM share than sovereigns, with issuance mostly opportunistic given the still-high costs. In the medium term, DCM is projected to surpass $450 billion outstanding, with sukuk to exceed 20% of the issuance mix, it added. "With over $225 billion external debt maturing in the next 12 months as of De cember 2023, Trkiye has always been vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiments, although the sovereign and private sector have proved resilient in their ability to access external financing," Al Natoor noted. Source: Anadolu Agency