Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: Turkey - Factors to Watch on March 28

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Turkey - Factors to Watch on March 28 Mar 28th 2012, 05:28 ISTANBUL, March 28 | Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:28am EDT ISTANBUL, March 28 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Wednesday. The lira stood at 1.7880 against the dollar at 0528 GMT, weakening slightly from 1.7871 late on Tuesday. The two-year benchmark bond yield closed at 9.48 percent on Tuesday, down from a previous close of 9.54 percent. Istanbul's main stock index closed 0.11 percent down at 62,490 points, underperforming a 1.11 percent rise in the MSCI emerging markets index. GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares drifted lower on Wednesday, after rallying the previous session on hopes for further stimulus from the Federal Reserve, as investors waited for more clues on the state of the U.S. economy. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2 percent, after rising more than 1 percent to a one-week high on Tuesday. At current levels, the index is set for a quarterly gain of nearly 13 percent, the best showing since the third quarter of 2010. ERDOGAN IN IRAN Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was visiting Iran for talks expected to focus on Iran's controversial nuclear programme and developments in Syria. Erdogan is expected to hold a news conference at 1100 GMT. CITIBANK ON TURKEY After Citigroup said on Friday it planned to reduce its 20 percent stake in Akbank to below 10 percent, Hurriyet newspaper reports Citibank spokesperson Shannon Bell as saying that Turkey is a key market and that it does not plan to exit Turkey. WORLD BANK LENDING STRATEGY The World Bank on Tuesday launched a new lending strategy for Turkey, providing up to US$4.45 billion over the next four years. The plan for 2012-2015 also provides for about $US2 billion for financing of private sector investments by the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank said in a statement. EUROBANK TEKFEN Haberturk newspaper says the Tekfen Group has sold its 30 percent stake in Eurobank Tekfen, a partnership of Greek lender EFG Eurobank and Tekfen to Kuwait's Burgan Bank. ROAD AND BRIDGE PREQUALIFICATION Pre-qualification for the privatisation of motorways and bridges has been extended until 1300 GMT on April 24 from a previous April 5, the Privatisation Administration (OIB) said in an announcement in the Official Gazette. The last date for bidding remained May 17, it said. THIRD BOSPHORUS BRIDGE TENDER The deadline for bids in the tender to build the third bridge across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul and the connecting North Marmara motorway has been delayed until 0700 GMT on April 20 from a previous April 5, the Transport Ministry said in an announcement in the Official Gazette. ERDEMIR ArcelorMittal said on Tuesday it would sell 134.3 million shares and the same number of warrants in Turkey's biggest steelmaker Erdemir as it shifts away from non-core activities and focuses on cutting debt. ArcelorMittal said the sale to institutional investors, managed by Goldman Sachs International, should result in its share in Erdemir dropping to 18.7 percent from 25 percent, or to 12.5 percent if all the warrants are exercised. PETKIM The final negotiations on the sale of a 10.32 percent public stake in petrochemicals company Petkim will be held on Friday afternoon at 1430 GMT, Turkey's Privatisation Board said in a written statement on Tuesday. Note: For a list of forthcoming events, see. For other related news, double click on: Turkish politics Turkish equities Turkish money Turkish debt Turkish hot stocks Forex news All emerging market news All Turkish news For real-time quotes, double click on: Istanbul National-100 stock index, interbank lira trading, lira bond trading (Writing by Daren Butler) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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