Turkish stock exchange plunges 7% after run on investment funds

The Turkish stock market plunges more than 7% on Wednesday 16 September 2026 after fund manager Pusula announces that certain funds can no longer meet investors’ redemption requests. The BIST 100 index, which tracks the hundred largest companies on Borsa Istanbul, falls to 12,900 points. The drop is so sharp that the exchange authorities temporarily halt trading.

In brief:

• The BIST 100 falls more than 7% after reports that fund manager Pusula cannot honour redemptions.
• Investors pull 55 billion lira ($1.13 billion) out of Turkish investment funds.
• Trading is halted after a market-wide sell-off in which nearly all 100 index constituents fall.

Pusula cannot honour redemptions

The problems begin with Pusula, a Turkish fund manager that says some of its funds are unable to process redemptions for investors. The news immediately causes unease in the market.

Investors then withdraw money from Turkish investment funds at a rapid pace. According to Bloomberg, the total amounts to 55 billion lira, equivalent to just over $1.13 billion. Fear that other fund managers are grappling with similar problems spreads quickly.

Forced selling amplifies the decline

Analysts explain the sharp fall by a mechanism in which fund managers are forced to sell their most liquid shares in order to meet redemption requests. Positions in less tradable investments are harder to turn into cash, which means listed shares are the first to be offloaded.

Those forced sales push prices down further, which in turn raises fresh concerns about the stability of other funds. Nearly all 100 stocks in the BIST 100 close in the red. Only two funds manage to end the day without a loss.