Turkish stocks confirm bear market as parliament passes fund repayment law
Turkish stocks fell as much as 4 percent on Friday, confirming a bear market with losses topping 20 percent in a month and bringing the total wiped from Borsa Istanbul to $120.7 billion since a fund-manipulation scandal broke in mid-September. Parliament passed a law on Thursday allowing interim payments of up to 1 million lira to investors in the 131 funds regulators ordered liquidated, which held assets from more than 455,000 people; 47 funds are still being wound down and 31 suspects, including a former ruling-party lawmaker, are in custody. Norway's sovereign wealth fund said its Turkish stock holdings have lost $302 million, 15.6 percent, since June, with deputy chief executive Trond Grande calling the fund “more the victim than the perpetrator.”