Istanbul bourse issues market-wide circuit breaker after opening fall

Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul issued a market-wide circuit breaker after the benchmark index dropped 5 percent within minutes of opening on Wednesday, continuing losses after a devastating earthquake in the south of the country on Monday.

The benchmark BIST-100 index opened down 0.52 percent and slid rapidly to be 5 percent lower, issuing the market-wide circuit breaker at 0712 GMT. Pre-market trading started at 0655 GMT.

The banking sub-index was down 4.67 percent when trading was suspended on the market.

The death toll of Monday’s earthquakes in Turkey rose to 6,234 by Wednesday morning, the Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) said.