Borsa Istanbul down nearly 1.5 percent at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 1.44 percent to 97,823.15 points with a trading volume of around 5.7 billion Turkish liras ($1.23 billion) in the closing session on Tuesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,426.65-point decrease from the previous close of 99,249.80 points, while it opened the day at 99,600.41 points, up 0.35 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.6120 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 4.5870 at Monday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last month.

The euro/lira exchange rate also slightly increased to 5.3810 by market close, versus 5.3770 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.1670 Turkish liras, compared with 6.1430 at Wednesday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.06 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold was traded for $1,292.75 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,292.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil dropped to $74.17 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Tuesday, from $75.51 at the previous close.