Turkey: Contrarian opportunity or value trap?

It has been a week since Recep Erdoğan`s decision to fire Turkey`s central-bank governor, Naci Agbal, for raising interest rates. Both Turkey`s stock market and currency, the Turkish lira (TRY), have shown some signs of stabilization after a dramatic drop last Monday. However, TRY weakened today but the fall is likely attributable to the fears of a margin call contagion despite a Bloomberg report that the new central bank governor's refused to commit to an interest cut.

Turkish central bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu said markets shouldn’t take for granted that he’ll cut interest rates as soon as April, when he sets monetary policy for the first time since his surprise appointment.

“I do not approve a prejudiced approach to MPC decisions in April or the following months, that a rate cut will be delivered immediately,” Kavcioglu said in a written response to questions emailed by Bloomberg News, referring to monetary policy committee meeting next month.

“In the new period, we will continue to make our decisions with a corporate monetary policy perspective to ensure a permanent fall in inflation. In this respect, we will also monitor the effects of the policy steps taken so far,” Kavcioglu said.

From an equity perspective, the MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR) is oversold and it is testing a key relative support level.

Do Turkish stocks represent a contrarian buying opportunity or a value trap?

The full post can be found here.