Türkiye New Updates

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

ISTANBUL: US stocks opened higher on Wednesday as consumer inflation in April slowed down both on annual and monthly basis. The Dow Jones was up 224 points, or 0.57%, to 39,782 at 9.43 a.m. EDT (1343GMT). The S and P 500 rose by 30 points, or 0.57%, to 5,275. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, increased 91 points, or 0.55%, to 16,602 at the time. Consumer inflation in the US annually rose 3.4% in April, and monthly increased 0.3%, as both figures slowed down from March gains of 3.5% and 0.4%, respectively, according to the Labor Department figures released earlier. The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 2.4% to 13.19. The 10-year US Treasury yield lost 1.48% to 4.380%. The dollar index shed 0.32% to 104.67, while the euro added 0.18% to $1.0839 against the greenback. Precious metals were in the red, with gold losing 0.2% to $2,353 per ounce and silver decreasing 0.22% to $28.56. Oil prices were down around 1.5% with global benchmark Brent crude at $81.18 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $76.82. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Turkish manufacturers sold approximately 4.5 million products worldwide in March and April through the e-commerce platform Trendyol. Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan were the recipient countries of the most products purchased, according to recent data from the firm. The foreign cities with the most interest in Turkish-made products were listed as Riyadh, Jeddah, Baku, Dubai, Mecca, and Abu Dhabi. Whereas, Gaziantep, Denizli, Adana, and Mersin were the top Turkish cities where goods were sold, while Kocaeli made its first appearance in the top ten cities with the highest exports. Turkish sellers on the platform sold over 1 million items in the Gulf region during the holy month of Ramadan, accounting for 25% of total sales. The export volume of products sold by Turkish manufacturers on Trendyol reached $650 million last year. *Writing by Emir Yildirim Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Canada's manufacturing sales declined 2.1% to $69.9 billion in March, according to figures released Wednesday by the country's statistical agency. The market expectation for the figure was to show a 2.4% decrease. The figure for February was revised up to a gain of 0.9% from an increase of 0.7%. The decline was led by lower sales of petroleum and coal products and motor vehicles. "Following a 5.7% increase in February, sales of petroleum and coal products decreased 8.0% to $8.0 billion in March, on lower volumes," Statistics Canada said in a statement. "Following two consecutive monthly increases, sales of motor vehicles declined 7.9% to $4.6 billion in March, while sales of motor vehicle parts were down 2.8%," it added. On a quarterly basis, total manufacturing sales were down 0.9% during the January-March period, mostly due to lower sales of transportation equipment that fell 3% and primary metals that declined 4.4%. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Consumer inflation in the US annually rose 3.4% in April, and monthly increased 0.3%, as both figures slowed down from March, according to data released Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from a consumer's perspective, came in line with market estimates on an annual basis, after rising 3.5% in March year-on-year. The figure is a sharp decline from the 9.1% annual gain recorded in July 2022, which was the highest since November 1981. The CPI rose 0.3% in April, compared to the previous month, coming below the market expectation of a 0.4% increase. The figure showed a monthly gain of 0.4% in March. "The index for shelter rose in April, as did the index for gasoline," the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement. "Combined, these two indexes contributed over seventy percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items." "The energy index rose 1.1 percent over the month. The food index was unchanged i n April," it added. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, gained 0.3% in April from the previous month, also coming in line with market estimates, and slowing its pace from the 0.4% gain in March. Annually, core CPI climbed 3.6% in April, also in line with market expectations, following a 3.8% year-on-year gain in March. President Joe Biden later in a statement released by the White House said fighting inflation and lowering costs is his top economic priority. "I know many families are struggling, and that even though we've made progress we have a lot more to do," he said in the statement. "Prices are still too high-so my agenda will give families breathing room by building two million new homes to lower housing costs, taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices, and calling on grocery chains making record profits to lower grocery prices for consumers." Biden said inflation has fallen more than 60% from its peak, while core inflation fell to its lowest level in three years. He argued that Republicans want to cut taxes for the wealthy and big corporations, raise taxes for middle class families, protect special interests and major pharmaceutical companies, and undermine workers and seniors by slashing Social Security and Medicare. "All that would send inflation skyrocketing," the president said. "I have a different vision for the future: one in which we take on special interests to lower costs and give the middle class a fair shot," he added. Source: Anadolu Agency

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill on Monday prohibiting Russian imports of enriched uranium. "Today, President Biden signed into law a historic series of actions that will strengthen our nation's energy and economic security by reducing-and ultimately eliminating-our reliance on Russia for civilian nuclear power," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. The new law reestablishes America's leadership in the nuclear sector, Sullivan said, adding it will help secure the US energy sector for generations to come. "And-building off the unprecedented $2.72 billion in federal funding that Congress recently appropriated at the President's request-it will jumpstart new enrichment capacity in the United States and send a clear message to industry that we are committed to long-term growth in our nuclear sector," he added. The bill will ban the imports 90 days after its enactment. Source: Anadolu Agency