Turkey's stock exchange suspends trading after earthquake losses

Turkey's stock exchange suspended trading on Wednesday for the first time in 24 years following the deadly earthquakes that put the benchmark BIST index into free fall. 

Borsa Istanbul stock exchange did not say when it would resume trading. Experts said it should be closed until next week.

The benchmark index lost 16 percent this week after twin quakes rocked southern Turkey on Monday, killing more than 11,000 people so far in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. 

The stock market was closed for a week in 1999 after a strong earthquake hit Izmit's Golcuk, killing more than 17,000 people. 

When trading began on Wednesday morning, the stock market immediately posted a seven percent loss. Two circuit breakers couldn’t stop the fall and trading was completely halted around 11am local time.

Read more in this report by Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu: 

Turkey's stock exchange suspends trading after earthquake losses