Turkish stocks open lower

By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish stocks opened slightly lower Monday following the confirmation of Turkey’s credit rating last week and ahead of a long-awaited speech by U.S. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen.

After Friday’s decision by Fitch credit rating agency to maintain Turkey’s status at BBB-, the Borsa Istanbul’s BIST-100 share index fell 429.99 points (0.55 percent) to 77,715.59 at the opening of Monday’s session.

Although Turkey’s rating remained the same, Fitch changed the country’s outlook from stable to negative, citing “heightened risks to political stability” in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt.

Yellen is due to give a speech Friday that could include policy changes, although a shift in the interest rate is not expected.

On Monday, the Turkish lira started at 2.94 against the U.S. dollar, down from 2.9340 on Friday’s close.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank’s monetary policy committee is due to meet Tuesday to decide on potential changes to the overnight lending rate following recent reductions over the last four months.

The rate, which is the rate at which banks borrow from the Central Bank overnight, went from 9 percent to 8.75 percent at the bank’s last meeting in July.