The Turkish stock exchange in Istanbul suspended trading on Wednesday after the continued price fall following the country’s devastating and deadly earthquakes. It is the first time in 24 years that Turkish stock trading has been halted.
“We have decided to suspend trading in stocks, futures and options markets,” Borsa Istanbul said in a statement. It was not said when trading would resume. The trading break followed a price drop of the BIST 100 index, Istanbul’s main gauge, of over 7 percent. The index fell 8.6 percent on Tuesday, and the stock market closed 1.4 percent lower on Monday. The Turkish stock market is heading for the most significant weekly loss since the financial crisis of 2008.
The trade disruption brings back memories of 1999 when a powerful earthquake also hit the country. The earthquake’s epicentre was between the cities of Izmit and Bursa, about a hundred kilometres east of Istanbul. Trading in Turkish shares was then halted for a week.
The decision not to close the stock market immediately after the strong earthquake the night of Sunday to Monday also caused a lot of criticism. According to Turkish economist Cem Seymen, the stock markets should have closed their doors immediately. In addition, the fact that Turkish cement companies have risen sharply in value recently also aroused anger among the public.
“May Allah curse you,” headlined the Turkish daily Yeni Cag on Tuesday in a headline above an article about the sharp price rises of the cement companies. The paper blamed investors, saying they were opportunistic as people struggled to survive. Investors bought the shares of the cement companies because they expect significant recovery efforts in the coming months.