Turkish markets down after surprise move by Moody's

ANKARA (AA) – Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index opened sharply lower on Monday after Moody's unexpectedly cut Turkey's rating late on Friday.

The BIST 100 index lost 4.4 percent -- or 3,512.94 points -- to open at 76,243,51 points.

Boosted by positive news from both the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, the index closed last week just shy of 80,000 points, seen as a psychological barrier.

Friday’s move from Moody's came as a surprise as the credit rating agency announced just two days before that the shock of Turkey’s foiled coup had largely dissipated.

Despite Monday’s negative opening, analysts say the sentiment may not last as the U.S. dollar versus Turkish lira rate -- deemed to be a significant gauge of market sentiment -- stayed below the 3.00 level suggesting volatility is far from being disruptive.

The U.S. dollar versus lira rate was 2.9933 at market opening -- 06.30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) --compared to 2.9540 at Friday’s close, up 1.3 percent.