Borsa Istanbul down at closing session

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 1.18 percent to 103,869.02 points with a trading volume of around 7.4 billion Turkish liras ($1.66 billion) at the closing session on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,244.36-point rise from the previous close of 105,113.38 points, while it opened the day at 104,979.24 points, up 0.13 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rate dropped to 4.5030 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared with 4.5790 at Tuesday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last week.

The euro/lira exchange rate also decreased to 5.2320 by market close, versus 5.3050 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 5.9980 Turkish liras, compared with 6.0930 at Thursday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.39 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,300.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,295.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose by 2.3 percent to $77.32 per barrel as of 1500GMT Wednesday, from $75.61 at the previous close.