Turkey Bank Shares Near Three-Month High on Rate Cut Expectation

Turkish bank shares rallied on Tuesday after the central bank provided more funding through its cheaper one-week repo rate, a move seen by markets as a sign that interest-rate cuts could be on the horizon.

The Borsa Istanbul Banks Index rose as much as 4.9% to the highest in nearly three months after the central bank said 100 billion liras ($2.5 billion) were lent at its repo auction on Tuesday — almost ten times the past month’s 11 billion liras daily average — at the 46% one-week rate. That’s lower than the overnight rate it’s been using for such operations and would lower the weighted average funding cost for the market.