Borsa Istanbul down over 3 pct at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 3.10 percent to 100,652.27 points with a trading volume of around 8.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.89 billion) at the closing session on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 3,216.75-point decrease from the previous close of 103,869.02 points, while it opened the day at 104,264.40 points, up 0.38 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.5210 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 4.5030 at Wednesday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last week.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 5.2780 by market close, versus 5.2320 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.0260 Turkish liras, compared with 5.9980 at Wednesday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.28 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,303.70 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,300.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $78.63 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, from $77.19 at the previous close.