GLOBAL MARKETS Asia stocks mostly held firm on Tuesday despite weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, with investors expecting the world's second-biggest economy to provide policy support. Expectations that the dollar will soften also cushioned emerging markets, although investors were wary of crucial U.S. government debt-ceiling negotiations, with a little more than two weeks to go before the government could run short of money to pay its bills.
TURKISH ELECTIONS President Tayyip Erdogan led comfortably on Monday after the first round of Turkey's presidential election, with his rival facing an uphill struggle to prevent the president extending his rule into a third decade in a runoff vote on May 28.
TURKISH MARKETS Turkey's sovereign dollar bonds and equities tumbled, and the cost of insuring exposure to the country's debt spiked as Turkey's presidential race heads to a runoff with Erdogan leading his opposition rival.
HOUSE SALES
The Turkish Statistical Institute is scheduled to release April house sales data. (0700 GMT)
EBRD GROWTH FORECAST The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Tuesday it had revised down its growth forecast for Turkey to 2.5% from 3% for 2023, due to the economic effects of the February earthquake and expected tightening of credit conditions later in the year.
POLLSTERS' PREDICTIONS The result of Turkey's presidential vote bore no resemblance to pollsters' forecasts which pointed to the opposition candidate in the lead, compounding the surprise for markets and voters alike when President Erdogan emerged ahead in the race.
MIDDLE EAST REACTION The prospect of Erdogan winning another presidential term in Turkey would once have rung alarms around the Middle East, but after taking a more conciliatory stance in recent years his strong election showing on Sunday has caused few flutters.
BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL There are no encouraging prospects for extending the Black Sea grain export initiative at the moment, a source familiar with the negotiations told the Russian RIA state news agency in remarks published early on Tuesday.
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