Stocks surge after Erdoğan's election victory

Concerns over rising trade tensions weighed on emerging stocks and currencies yesterday, but Turkish assets enjoyed a relief rally after President Erdoğan's election victory on Sunday, based on preliminary results.

Turkey's stock exchange yesterday morning rose 3.55 percent. Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange's (BIST) 100 index started the week at 99,255.76 points, up 3,403.66 points.

Later in the day, the stock exchange stood at 95,202 with a 0.68 percent decrease. All sector indices started the day with gains, while the mining index posted the best performance, up 12.19 percent. The BIST banking index and the BIST holding index rose 5.60 percent and 1.78 percent, respectively.

Sunday night Erdoğan became Turkey's first leader under a presidential system of government, and the People's Alliance - an alliance between his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) - also secured a parliamentary majority, according to unofficial results. Turkey's Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced yesterday morning that with 99.2 percent of the ballot boxes opened, Erdoğan was leading with 52.5 percent of the vote, while his major rival Muharrem İnce lagged behind at 30.6 percent.

Also in Sunday's parliamentary elections, the People's Alliance won 53.6 percent of the votes, with 99.1 percent of ballot boxes opened. On Friday, the BIST 100 index closed at 95,852.11, up 0.84 percent, with a trade volume of TL 4.9 billion ($1.04 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate dropped to 4.5490 as of 9.30 a.m. local time yesterday from 4.6950 at Friday's close. The dollar/lira exchange rate traded at 4.68 as of 14:40 p.m. local time. The euro/lira exchange rate slipped to 5.2970 in the open market - from 5.4720 at the previous close - while one British pound traded for 6.0440 Turkish liras versus 6.2310 at the previous close. The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.47 as of 14:40 p.m. local time.