TURKISH REGULATOR SAYS BANK HEARINGS STIR SPECULATION

Banking shares .XBANK on the Istanbul bourse slumped 6 percent on Tuesday, and traders said they were concerned by comments from banking executives who said a ruling against the lenders could spark selling of $6 billion of shares.

The banking index was up 0.7 percent at 0915 GMT in a weaker market.

The board held hearings on Tuesday to look at whether eight major banks had colluded to attract companies to deposit personnel wages.

"Speculation was made easier by the attendance of several top-level executives at the oral defence hearings," the Competition Board said in a statement on its website.