Shares of Turkey's Anadolu Efes, ENKA jump on Trump-Putin meeting hopes

GDANSK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Shares of Turkey's largest construction company ENKA İnşaat ENKAI.IS and brewer Anadolu Efes AEFES.IS rose on Thursday, reflecting investor hopes that the expected meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump could ease geopolitical tensions.

ENKA Insaat was up 5.1% and Anadolu Efes gained 4.4% as of 1047 GMT, both trading at their highest levels since mid-May. Shares of Anadolu Grubu Holding AGHOL.IS, the biggest shareholder of Anadolu Efes, also rose around 4%.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that Putin and Trump would meet in the coming days. A White House official had said on Wednesday that a meeting could take place as soon as next week.

Such a face-to-face meeting would be the first between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, some eight months before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.

"Expectations around the Putin-Trump meeting have triggered a move in Anadolu Efes shares in particular," said analyst Mustafa Kemal Eski from brokerage Marbaş Menkul Değerler.

"There's a belief that a ceasefire could be on the table, which may lead to the lifting of the trustee overseeing Anadolu Efes' operations in Russia," he added.

The brewer's Russia joint venture with AB InBev ABI.BR was placed under temporary management by a presidential decree in December 2024. Russian authorities had earlier that year also rejected the sale of AB InBev's stake to its Turkish partner.

ENKA's shares also benefited from the prospect of thawing relations, as the war coming to an end could accelerate its ongoing projects in Russia, Eski said.

Serhat Başkurt, a portfolio manager at Destek Yatırım, also said that ENKA's shares were rising due to its investments in Russia.