While uncertainty prevails globally about when central banks will start lowering interest rates, stock markets are testing historic highs. Particularly, the performance of technology shares on the New York Stock Exchange has been notable. Last week, California-based chip manufacturer Nvidia’s announcement of better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter also increased risk appetite in global equity markets.
Analysts stated that technology companies operating in the semiconductor chip and artificial intelligence sectors, led by Nvidia, are expected to continue influencing the direction of markets in the coming periods.
With these developments, the BIST 100 index in Borsa Istanbul reached a historic peak of 9,450.48 points. The BIST 100 index has outperformed major global indices with a return of over 23% since the beginning of the year.
The technology index, which has gained over 75% since the beginning of the year, also reached a historic peak of 17,031.65 points. Analysts highlighted the increasing interest in Turkish assets in global markets, emphasizing its impact on the performance of these assets.
Interest in Turkish Lira (TL) assets is rising, and analysts noted the continued positive reports from foreign investment institutions about Turkish assets. They also pointed out that the steps taken by the economic administration in the normalization process since last year’s elections have fueled risk appetite for Turkish lira assets.
The increased interest in Turkey’s foreign borrowing auctions in recent times has contributed to a decrease in borrowing interest rates and an extension of maturities, boosting confidence in the implemented economic program and attracting investor interest.
The demand for auctions by the Treasury, the Export Credit Bank of Turkey (Eximbank), and the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) signals a positive perception of foreign investors toward Turkey.
Moreover, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek announced last week that Turkey is in the final stages of the process to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. He stated, “After the FATF team’s visit to Turkey, the evaluation report prepared will be discussed at the General Assembly meeting in June, and it is expected that the grey list decision regarding our country will be lifted in this meeting.”
Analysts emphasized that Turkey’s advancement to the final stage of exiting the FATF grey list also indicates increased confidence in the Turkish economy.
Looking at the performances since the beginning of the year, BIST Technology companies have outperformed leading technology companies on the New York Stock Exchange in terms of returns. Among the technology index companies, Fonet Information Technologies, Kafein Software, and Reeder have pleased their investors the most.
During this period, Fonet Information Technologies’ shares increased by around 366%, Kafein Software’s shares by approximately 238%, and Reeder’s shares by about 217%.
Examining the performances of technology companies on the New York Stock Exchange since the beginning of the year, Nvidia provided a return of 59.7%, Amazon 15%, Meta 36%, Broadcom 17.3%, while Tesla lost 19.8%, and Alphabet lost 1.5%.
The total market capitalization of the 34 companies included in the BIST Technology index surpassed 629 billion Turkish Liras. The technology companies with the highest market capitalization were ASELSAN with 296.6 billion TL, Reeder with 65.4 billion TL, and Mia Technology with 40.2 billion TL.
source: aa.com.tr / prepared by Melisa Beğiç