Daily Bulletin

Good morning. The United States' continued escalation of trade barriers and its recent decision to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 104% are once again triggering sell-offs across global equity markets. The U.S. administration's statement that it will "disregard the markets for a while" further signals that there will be no immediate policy response to the sharp market declines, and that high volatility is likely to persist. Although U.S. markets opened on a hopeful and positive note yesterday, subsequent news flow led to intraday losses of up to 7% from the day's highs. This morning, selling pressure continues in U.S. equity futures as well. European markets also saw gains yesterday, but futures are down around 4% this morning. Asian markets are also under pressure and trading lower. Borsa Istanbul closed positively yesterday amid a search for equilibrium, with balanced capital inflows and outflows as well as neutral foreign investor activity. However, given the weakness in global markets, we expect this external pressure to weigh on the local market today. Accordingly, the current environment remains one of elevated volatility, where caution is warranted for short-term positions and focus should be maintained on long-term investment strategies. Today’s agenda is relatively light. No significant economic data is expected domestically or in Europe, while the minutes from the Federal Reserve will be monitored in the U.S. Turkey's 5-year CDS premiums open the day at 363 basis points.