Borsa Istanbul flat at open

ANKARA (AA) – Borsa Istanbul opened flat on Thursday, rising just 8.46 points during its first transactions.

The BIST 100 index rose 0.01 percent to open at 77,469.72 points.

In the last three days, the index has suffered from the rising value of the U.S. dollar in global markets in anticipation of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Turkish markets were on the back foot since Moody’s recent credit rating cut on Sept. 23 despite the fact that immediate effects of the move was not disruptive.

The U.S. dollar rate against the Turkish lira surged after the market opened as investors opted to invest in the dollar, which is traditionally seen as safe haven in Turkish markets.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate, which was at 3.0915 by the time markets closed at 5.30 p.m. (1430 GMT) Wednesday, surged 0.4 percent to 3.1050 at 10.15 a.m. (0715 GMT) Thursday, a historic high for the dollar against the lira.