Turkish equities experienced a net outflow of $57mn in the week ending April 6. That came on top of the $256mn outflow seen a week ago, according to central bank data released on April 12.

Total outflows from the Istanbul stock exchange have amounted to $478mn since the beginning of 2018. The bourse's total equities inflow in 2017 topped $3.34bn, in line with the scope of portfolio inflows recorded for the emerging markets universe. As a result, Bourse Istanbul hit many all-time highs last year.

The benchmark BIST-100 index was up 0.75% d/d to 110,075 as of 16:30 local time on April 12. The index stood at 114,930 at end-March and at 115,333 at the end of 2017.

The latest central bank data on Turkish government debt securities, meanwhile, also showed an outflow, amounting to $242mn in the week to April 6.

Total inflows into government debt instruments have amounted to $650mn to date this year. There was an overall inflow of $7.13bn into debt securities in 2017.

The latest balance of payments data pointed to $297mn worth of net portfolio outflows in February.

“The reversal of portfolio inflows is a concern, as they have been funding half of the current account deficit, so if they reverse this causes double trouble for the central bank,” Timothy Ash, an analyst at Bluebay Asset Management, said in an e-mailed comment.

The central bank also announced on April 12 that total FX deposits with Turkish banks declined from $202.6bn as of March 30 to $202.5bn as of April 6. FX deposits stood at $201.1bn at end-2017.

Residents’ total FX deposits also declined from $164.7bn as of March 30 to $164bn as of April 6. Residents’ FX deposits stood at $168.9bn as of March 2 and at $165.3bn as of end-2017.