Istanbul blasts stun markets
A STRING of deadly explosions in Turkey's largest city sent London and European share markets sliding as nervous investors bailed out of travel and insurance stocks.
At least 15 people are believed to have been killed and 300 injured in the blasts near the British Consulate and HSBC's Turkish headquarters in Istanbul.It was not immediately clear where the deaths occurred.
The Istanbul stock exchange briefly suspended trade. Brokers said they feared the explosions, which followed deadly suicide attacks on two Istanbul synagogues at the weekend, would have a serious impact on foreign investor sentiment in Turkey, tentatively recovering from a deep economic recession.
British Airways is holding an emergency meeting of its security staff to decide whether it needs to take any action after the attacks. It is continuing with scheduled flights to tyhe Turkish capital.
Insurer Aviva said it had temporarily closed one of its offices situated close to the HSBC building. Aviva said none of its 400-strong staff based in Turkey's commercial capital had been injured.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the explosions bore all the hallmarks of the al Qaeda terrorism network. 'At this stage we can't say for certain who is responsible...but I'm afraid to say it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practised by al Qaeda and associated organisations,' he said. He added that three or four employees at the British consulate had not replied to a roll call.
The FTSE 100 fell 37.3 points to 4290.1. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was down 1.21%, having been up ahead of reports of the blast.
Travel companies and airlines were among the hardest hit, with First Choice and MyTravel falling. Bank and insurance stocks were also down and hotels group Hilton fell over fears that the blasts would hit its fragile recovery.
Gold and the Swiss franc, favoured investments in times of international security concerns, rose after the blasts. 'The fear in the market is that terrorist attacks are going to increase,' said Peter Fertig, chief fixed income strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
