Turkey and Frontier Stocks: BIST 100, PSX, TASE, Merval — 2026-09-26
Borsa Istanbul extended its post-fund-crisis slide, with the BIST 100 falling 2.74% midweek and slipping below the 13,000 support before opening flat at 12,885 on Friday. Argentina's Merval closed a losing week as country risk breached 600 basis points, a six-month high, and the dollar hit a record at Banco Nación. Pakistan's KSE-100 swung wildly, jumping above 172,200 points midweek before giving back gains with a 1,100-point intraday drop on Thursday.
Turkey and Frontier Stocks: BIST 100, PSX, TASE, Merval — 2026-09-26
Top developments
Turkey's fund-crisis sell-off drags BIST 100 below 13,000
Borsa Istanbul fell sharply again this week, with the BIST 100 closing down 2.74% on Wednesday (Sept 23/24 session), extending the turmoil from fund liquidations and redemptions. On Thursday the index opened at 13,172.44, down 0.6% or 79.41 points, after Wednesday's close of 13,251.85 on a daily volume of 133 billion liras ($2.72 billion). By Friday the index had dropped below the critical 13,000 support, opening flat at 12,885 points. The crisis is hitting small caps hardest: Borsa Istanbul's SME index has plunged 34% as fund liquidations force sales of thin-float, low-liquidity stocks.
Biggest BIST 100 shake-up in years: 27 companies out
Borsa Istanbul announced historic index and market changes effective October 1–December 31, removing 27 companies from the BIST 100 following regulatory tightening — including a new volatility criterion and a minimum market value for IPO'd shares. That means more than a quarter of the index will be swapped out in October after Turkey's regulator tightened fund concentration rules. The restructuring could trigger significant passive flows ahead of the October rebalancing.
Argentina: country risk breaches 600 bps, dollar at record
Argentina closed a red week: the Merval fell 1.6% on Friday (Sept 25) as bonds lost 1.2%, with JP Morgan's country risk indicator rising to 609 basis points — the highest in six months. The dollar hit a record of $1.540 at Banco Nación, and reserves fell by USD 600 million due to a payment to the IMF. Measured in dollar CCL terms, the Merval lost 5.4% since Monday, with banks and energy stocks under particular pressure. Earlier in the week, the Merval fell 0.94% to 2,969,545 points on Sept 23 as country risk climbed for an eighth straight day, and the peso closed at 1,514–1,514+ per dollar.
Pakistan: KSE-100 whipsaws above and below 172,000
The KSE-100 climbed 830 points to the psychological level of 172,200 points in Wednesday's (Sept 24) rally, but the gains faded: Thursday's session ended in negative territory as profit-taking set in, with the index closing in the red. Urdu-language coverage flagged a severe intraday slide on Thursday with the benchmark shedding more than 1,100 points.
Local view
Turkish media focused on foreign outflows: Şeker Yatırım's analysis, citing TCMB data, reported that foreign investors net sold $109.8 million in equities in the Sept 14–18 week (adjusted for price and FX effects), continuing a sell-off streak over the past six weeks. HalkTV described investors starting Friday "cautiously" after the previous day's "avalanche" of selling broke the critical 13,000 support level.
In Argentina, Infobae highlighted that the Central Bank bought just USD 8 million in the FX market on Sept 24 while the dollar set a record at Banco Nación of $1.540 — underscoring persistent pressure on reserves despite currency controls. For its part, iProfesional noted the Central Bank did not buy dollars in the latest session as equities and bonds declined.
Context & numbers
- BIST 100: Wednesday close 13,251.85 (+0.4%, volume 133 billion liras / ~$2.72B) → Thursday open 13,172.44 (-0.6%) → -2.74% close midweek → Friday open 12,885
- Turkish SME index down 34% amid fund liquidations
- Foreign investors net sold $109.8M of Turkish equities in Sept 14–18 week (TCMB data)
- Argentina: country risk 609 bps (six-month high); Merval -1.6% Friday; bonds -1.2%; dollar record $1.540; reserves -$600M
- Pakistan: KSE-100 peaked at ~172,200 before Thursday's >1,100-point slide
On the radar
- The BIST 100 index changes take effect October 1 — the 27-company reshuffle will be a major flow event for Turkish equities
- Watch whether BIST 100 can reclaim the 13,000 support level it lost on Friday
- Argentina: whether country risk holds above 600 bps and whether BCRA resumes FX purchases after dipping into reserves for the IMF payment
- No fresh, verifiable data was available this week for Israel's TA-35 or Kazakhstan's KASE; TASE-specific coverage in local Hebrew media did not yield dated results within the coverage window.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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