Turkish stock exchange at 14-month high in defiance of geopolitical tensions

The Turkish stocks have started off the week strongly at a 14-month-high despite rising geopolitical tension from Israel’s blistering assault on Gaza, as well as a plane crash rift in Ukraine and ongoing turmoil in Iraq.

The Borsa Istanbul (BIST) 100 index has opened the day at 82,992 points with a 378-point rise, touching the highest point it has seen since May 31, 2013.

Tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine seem to leave investors cold with Turkey’s close involvement in the rift, particularly due to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly harsh rhetoric against Israel over its strikes on Gaza that have killed more than 300 Palestinians over the past couple of weeks.

Still, analysts expect the markets to closely observe political developments in Israel and in Iraq, where Islamic State (IS) militants’ presence continues to threaten stability in the region, and in Ukraine, where fury over pro-Russian rebels’ alleged downing a Malaysian Airlines plane, killing 298 people, grows.

Investors’ eyes will also be locked on second quarter financial figures, which will be announced this week, as well as the Central Bank’s third quarterly inflation report, which will be unveiled on July 24.

Meanwhile, Europe’s main stock markets flattened at the start of trade, as cautious investors follow geopolitical developments in Ukraine and the Middle East.

In initial deals, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was almost unchanged at 6,749.12 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 dipped 0.09 percent to 9,711.68 points and the CAC 40 in Paris drifted 0.02 percent lower to 4,334.62 compared at June 18’s closing.