Fast with investor-friendly decision not to ban Turkish ruling party

Reuters was first to report a Constitutional Court decision on July 30 not to ban the ruling AK Party for Islamist activities, a ruling that investors had been awaiting anxiously. The Reuters story appeared almost five minutes ahead of Dow Jones and was widely quoted by local TV stations. Underlining the importance of the court ruling, shares next day surged five percent, the lira firmed two percent and benchmark bond yields fell a percentage point, building on a rally on the day of the verdict when markets anticipated which way the judges would go. The fast work was the culmination of weeks of excellent reporting on the tensions between the ruling party and the secularist military and courts that have unnerved financial markets by throwing economic reform off course.