Turkey ETF Surges Post Release of American Pastor
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR) advanced 5.1% on Oct 15 as the Turkish Lira was up 1.7% against the U.S. dollar — hitting a two-month high. This movement was in anticipation of improving relations between Ankara and Washington (see: all the European Equity ETFs here).
The lira which has plummeted nearly 35% this year saw a boost after the court released U.S. pastor, Andrew Brunson after two years. This led to a conflict between the Turkey and Washington. The relative gain was also supported by a weakened dollar due to lower-than-expected retail sales for the month of September (see: Higher Oil Prices to Spell Trouble for These Country ETFs)
Hosting Brunson in the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said his release was "a tremendous step" in American-Turkish relationship and added "We have a chance of really becoming much closer to Turkey, and maybe even having a very, very good relationship.”
Washington retaliated with sanctions on Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and doubled the imposition of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
On Sep 13, the Central Bank of Turkey hiked its main interest rate to 24%, a hike of 6.25% from the previous 17.75%. This was the biggest rate hike in President Erdogan’s 15-year rule (read: Top and Flop ETFs of September).
On Oct 9, Albayrak issued a new set of measures to fight inflation and urged the support of the private sector. The country’s private sector has agreed to charge at least 10% lower prices on its goods. The new program also included a freeze on energy prices until the year-end and an acceleration of VAT rebates. Banks would be providing 10% discount on high interest loans taken after Aug 1.
Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Oct 15 that the rate of inflation is expected to come down for the rest of the year. The inflation hit a 15-year high in September. He sounded very optimistic with combating measures adopted by the government will drive the country out of the burdens of higher inflation and interest rates.
Turkey also intends to cut is dependence on imports. “We will offer up to 14 percent financing support to companies for their [Turkish] lira-based loans,” said Industry Minister Mustafa Varank. He also added that new Libor-based incentive of $200,000 was in consideration for the smaller and medium sized enterprises having export plans.
TUR could expect some more pricing action in the coming days psot these latest developments. Below we focus on this ETF:
ETF in Focus
TUR
It tracks the MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index. There are 62 holdings in the fund pool. AUM is $475.7 million and the expense ratio is 0.62%. The fund is highly liquid having a daily average traded volume of 983,000 shares. It has gained 7.4% over the past week.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF TUR advanced 5.1% on Oct 15 as the Turkish Lira was up 1.7% against the U.S. dollar — hitting a two-month high. This movement was in anticipation of improving relations between Ankara and Washington (see: all the European Equity ETFs here).
The lira which has plummeted nearly 35% this year saw a boost after the court released U.S. pastor, Andrew Brunson after two years. This led to a conflict between the Turkey and Washington. The relative gain was also supported by a weakened dollar due to lower-than-expected retail sales for the month of September (see: Higher Oil Prices to Spell Trouble for These Country ETFs)
Hosting Brunson in the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said his release was "a tremendous step" in American-Turkish relationship and added "We have a chance of really becoming much closer to Turkey, and maybe even having a very, very good relationship.”
Washington retaliated with sanctions on Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and doubled the imposition of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
On Sep 13, the Central Bank of Turkey hiked its main interest rate to 24%, a hike of 6.25% from the previous 17.75%. This was the biggest rate hike in President Erdogan’s 15-year rule (read: Top and Flop ETFs of September).
On Oct 9, Albayrak issued a new set of measures to fight inflation and urged the support of the private sector. The country’s private sector has agreed to charge at least 10% lower prices on its goods. The new program also included a freeze on energy prices until the year-end and an acceleration of VAT rebates. Banks would be providing 10% discount on high interest loans taken after Aug 1.
Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Oct 15 that the rate of inflation is expected to come down for the rest of the year. The inflation hit a 15-year high in September. He sounded very optimistic with combating measures adopted by the government will drive the country out of the burdens of higher inflation and interest rates.
Turkey also intends to cut is dependence on imports. “We will offer up to 14 percent financing support to companies for their [Turkish] lira-based loans,” said Industry Minister Mustafa Varank. He also added that new Libor-based incentive of $200,000 was in consideration for the smaller and medium sized enterprises having export plans.
TUR could expect some more pricing action in the coming days post these latest developments. Below we focus on this ETF:
ETF in Focus
TUR
It tracks the MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index. There are 62 holdings in the fund pool. AUM is $475.7 million and the expense ratio is 0.62%. The fund is highly liquid having a daily average traded volume of 983,000 shares. It has gained 7.4% over the past week.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
ISHRS-MSCI TURK (TUR): ETF Research Reports
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
