(BFM Bourse) – The Istanbul Stock Exchange will be closed until Tuesday after the recent earthquake that hit the country. It is the first time that it has interrupted its quotations for 24 years.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange announced its closure – the first since 1999 – until Tuesday inclusive due to market volatility after the recent earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, killing at least 11,700 people.
The magnitude 7.8 quake, followed by powerful aftershocks, devastated southeastern Turkey and northern Syria at dawn on Monday. In addition to the heavy human toll, the disaster left several thousand people homeless in the winter cold.
The stock market justified its decision on Wednesday by “increasing volatility and extraordinary price fluctuations after the catastrophic earthquake”. It had recorded marked losses before deciding to suspend trading on Wednesday morning.
“Given the low volume of transactions which does not allow for effective pricing, all trades carried out during the market suspension on February 8, 2023 will be canceled”, explained the establishment in the afternoon, specifying that they would ultimately remain closed until February 14 inclusive.
A first since 1999
The last time the Istanbul Stock Exchange remained closed was following the 1999 earthquake, which killed more than 17,000 people.
Members of the political class have demanded the cancellation of all exchanges made since the earthquake.
“It’s not enough to close. Transactions made on the Istanbul Stock Exchange since the earthquake should be canceled,” said MP Murat Bakan, a member of the main opposition party.
“It would thus be a question of protecting the rights of the 500,000 small investors who are under the rubble, who are dead or who are waiting for help and who do not have access to the internet,” he tweeted.
(With AFP)
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