While global markets started the week on a positive note with the statements that the USA and Iran are close to reaching an agreement, some stock exchanges, especially in the USA and the UK, will be closed for trading today due to the public holiday.
US President Donald Trump stated that the negotiations with Iran were proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner and pointed out that they would not rush to reach a good agreement, strengthening the expectations that the parties could leave the reconciliation table by shaking hands.
The White House stated that they were in a “good point” for a possible agreement between the USA and Iran, but that it could take days to complete the agreement, and the New York Times (NYT) newspaper’s claim that the USA and Iran had reached an agreement on the “re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz” fed these optimisms.
Following this, expectations that the two countries could reach an agreement for the Strait of Hormuz to become fully operational again and for the uninterrupted maintenance of oil supply gained strength.
Expectations that geopolitical tensions would decrease helped ease the pressure on oil prices, while the decline in energy costs contributed to the reduction of concerns about global inflation risks.
These developments were also felt in the dollar index. Strengthening forecasts that inflation pressures will ease and the decline in geopolitical risk perception weakened the demand for a safe haven, causing the dollar to lose limited value against major currencies.
On the other hand, predictions in the money markets that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may take additional tightening steps at the December meeting remained strong.
Analysts noted that there may be changes in expectations regarding the monetary policy decisions to be taken by the Fed in the coming period, with the signals to be received from the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index and growth data to be announced this week in the USA.
In light of these developments, the ounce price of gold started the week with an increase of 1.2 percent at 4 thousand 561 dollars, and the barrel price of Brent oil started the week with a decrease of 5.81 percent at 94.8 dollars. The dollar index is at 99 with a decrease of 0.2 percent.
Markets in the USA will be closed today for Memorial Day. Index futures contracts in the USA started the week positively.
– Index futures contracts remain positive in Europe
Inflation data in Germany will be closely followed this week in Europe, which priced positively the expectations that the negotiations between the USA and Iran could be concluded successfully on Friday.
While the decline in energy prices across the region created optimism that inflation pressures could be alleviated, tightening expectations for the European Central Bank (ECB) remained strong in the markets.
Making a statement on Friday, ECB President Christine Lagarde noted that they will continue to pursue a data-driven and meeting-based approach to determine the most appropriate monetary policy stance to achieve the 2 percent medium-term inflation targets.
On the other hand, European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that she welcomed the “progress towards reaching an agreement between the USA and Iran”.
Von der Leyen, in her statement on the social media platform of US-based company
With these developments, index futures contracts in Europe started the week positively. In the UK, markets will be closed for holidays.
– Trading volume remains low on Asian stock markets
While the repercussions of the relatively positive developments in the US-Iran line were also felt on the Asian side, it was observed that risk appetite remained high in stock markets with few open positions.
While the rises in the region, led by the semiconductor sector, attracted attention, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan reached record levels.
Analysts stated that they are following the news about the US-Iran negotiations closely, and stated that the relatively high course of energy prices continues to overshadow the economic outlook.
With these developments, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan rose 3.2 percent and the Shanghai composite index in China rose 0.8 percent near the closing. Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong will be closed today due to a public holiday.
– There will be a change in the date of clearing transactions at Borsa Istanbul
BIST 100 index at Borsa Istanbul, which followed a buying-oriented trend on Friday, closed the day at 13,808.20 points, gaining 4.89 percent in value.
Due to Eid al-Adha, there will be a change in the date of exchange transactions at Borsa Istanbul. In the share market, the clearing of Friday’s transactions will be carried out on Monday, June 1, and the clearing of today’s and Tuesday’s transactions will be carried out on Tuesday, June 2.
There will be a half-day session at the stock exchange tomorrow, and there will be no sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
While the Dollar/TL exchange rate completed Friday at 45.7120, it is traded at 45.7230 at the opening of the interbank market today, just above the previous closing.
Analysts stated that the economic confidence index data will be followed in the country today, while the data agenda is calm abroad, and noted that technically, the 13,900 and 14,000 levels in the BIST 100 index are resistance, and the 13,700 and 13,600 points are support.
