Financial markets

Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook for the Turkish banking sector from neutral to improving, citing reduced financial risks and increased investor confidence following the country's adoption of more conventional economic policies.

There has been a lot of business activity recently in the food and beverage industry, as well as in organized food retail, with the conditions appearing to be ripe for the completion of corporate mergers and acquisitions.

In the last 24 hours, positions worth $526 million were liquidated in the cryptocurrency market - Concerns on Wall Street about the risk of a sharp correction

The state's revenues from its divestment from Piraeus Bank come to 1.35 billion euros. The public offer for 27% of the bank attracted bids of €10.7 billion in the upper range of the offer price, which was set at €4 per share.

The number of investors in Borsa Istanbul has picked up again in the past two weeks with new initial public offerings on the stock exchange.

Some investors left the stock exchange in the past months due to the combination of several factors. The interest rates on saving accounts rose, while the performance of the shares offered via public offerings was disappointing. 

The Greek bourse may have seen a decline in daily turnover on Monday, owing to the US holiday that kept the New York stock market closed, but most stocks posted significant gains, leading the benchmark to a new 13-year high. Growth was evenly spread across the market, confirming that investors, especially from abroad, are seeking out opportunities in the lower capitalizations too.

Greece will return to the capital markets on Wednesday with the reopening of two bonds, aiming to raise 400 million euros from investors.

The initial public offering addressed to the Greek market for the 30% stake in Athens International Airport, controlled by state asset utilization fund TAIPED, starts on Thursday and will be completed on February 1

In 2023, the BIST100 index remained below the performance of 2022 and inflation, but there is a premium of about 35 percent. The policy based on high-interest rates, which changed with the new economic management after the elections, mobilized alternative markets. Interest rates, foreign exchange and gold protected investors relatively from inflation compared to the stock market.

Türkiye ranked 10th in the world in terms of public offerings (IPO) launched, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young (EY).

A total of 52 IPOs were launched, corresponding to 4 percent of global public offerings, EY's Global IPO Trends 2023 report said.