Turkish stock exchange ends 2022 at new all-time high

ANKARA

Türkiye’s benchmark stock index climbed 0.59% on Friday to end the year’s last trading day at a new all-time high of 5,509.16 points.

Starting the day at 5,510.78, Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index was up 32.24 points from Thursday’s close of 5,476.92.

It peaked during the day at 5,562.98 points, while its daily low was 5,489.20.

While global stock exchanges struggled this year, the BIST 100 rocketed 196.57% on an annual basis in 2022, as investors hedged against surging consumer prices and a weakening lira.

Having started the year at 13.6800, the Turkish lira was at 18.7170 against the US dollar by Friday’s close.

The US dollar/lira parity reached as low as 18.8229 on Dec. 27.

One euro was trading for 20.0010 Turkish liras by the end of Friday, while the British pound/lira exchange rate stood at 22.6430.

At Friday’s close, the index’s trading volume was 113 billion Turkish liras ($6.03 billion).

The price of gold was down 0.14% to $1,823.40 per ounce, while Brent crude oil was at $84.51 per barrel for a 1.26% gain at 6.30 p.m. local time (1530GMT).

Like other countries, Türkiye grappled with record inflation this year as the Ukraine war pushed up global energy and food prices.

After hitting a 24-year high of 85.51% in October, Türkiye’s annual inflation dipped to 84.39% in November.

The Turkish economy grew 3.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, following growth rates of 7.7% and 7.5%, respectively, in the second and first quarters.

Over the course of the year, the Turkish Central Bank slashed its benchmark policy rate by a total of 500 basis points, bringing it down to 9% from 14%.

The bank has said the current level is “adequate” and it will end the series of cuts.