Borsa Istanbul down over 1 percent at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 1.19 percent to 96,657.71 points with a trading volume of around 7.2 billion Turkish liras ($1.57 billion) in the closing session on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,165.44-point decrease from the previous close of 97,823.15 points, while it opened the day at 98,269.59 points, up 0.46 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rate dropped to 4.5670 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared with 4.6120 at Tuesday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last month.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.3840 by market close, versus 5.3810 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.1530 Turkish liras, compared with 6.1670 at Tuesday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index lost in value by 0.05 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold was traded for $1,292.10 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,292.75 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $74.83 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Wednesday, from $74.17 at the previous close.