The Impact of Exchange Rate Fluctuations on the Behavior of the Stock Markets in the Turkish Economy

Abstract

             A discussion about the repercussions of the exchange rate on the behavior of stock markets became one of the basic principles of financial economics. The Istanbul Stock Exchange , considered  one of the fastest financial markets growing in the region, driven by solid economic activity, for a diversified economy  which classified as one of the the fastest growing economies in the world. However, the aforementioned market witnessed sharp fluctuations in the past few months, coinciding with the continuous fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Turkish lira, posing a serious challenge to the economic and investment environment in a country where the volume of trade, tourism and investment serves as a locomotive for economic growth. This research adopted statistical methods in modern measuring economic relations, using the methodology Johansen integration and Granger causality, to study the nature and direction of the dynamic relationship between the exchange market and the stock market in Turkish economy for the period( 2000 - 2012), in order to take actions and measures necessary to reduce the deterioration and volatility Continuous in Turkey Stock Exchange performance of securities on the one hand, and the relative stability in the exchange rate movement of the Turkish lira on the other. The results of the assessment revealed the presence of a statistically significant relationship between the exchange rate of the Turkish lira and the stock price index during the study period. As Granger test pointed out that the causal relationship is heading from exchange rates to stock prices.