Turkiye weighs extending stock-market closure as quake toll rises

Turkish officials are considering extending the closure of the Istanbul stock market past Wednesday, after imposing a halt following a pair of devastating earthquakes in the nation’s southeast last week, Report informs via Bloomberg.

Market regulators could delay the resumption of trading after the initially announced February 15, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. No decision has been made yet, they said, also declining to provide additional details on what options were under discussion.

The bourse suspended trading on February 8 and canceled trades made that day after the earthquakes on Monday devastated ten cities in the worst natural disaster in modern Turkish history. The benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index, which was already the worst-performing equity market in the world this year, erased tens of billions of dollars in market value over the two days it stayed open last week.

The Capital Markets Board, stock exchange, and Treasury and Finance Ministry declined to comment on potential extension of the closure when contacted by Bloomberg on Monday.

Turkiye’s main opposition party filed a criminal complaint against top market regulators last week, alleging the Capital Markets Board and the Borsa Istanbul failed to fulfill their duties by allowing the exchange to stay open. Hakan Atilla, the exchange’s previous chief executive, said healthy price formations under the circumstances would be “impossible.”

While a rare occasion, countries have halted stock trading in the past due to unusual circumstances. The New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and other bourses were shut in 2001 after the 9/11 attack. Trading in US shares resumed after being closed for four trading days, with the S&P 500 slumping about 5% upon reopening.