Borsa Istanbul goes down in closing session

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index fell by 2.74 percent to 94,543.27 points with a trading volume of around 7.2 billion Turkish liras ($1.42 billion) in the closing session on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 2,667.3-point fall from Wednesday's close of 97,210.57 points, while it opened the day at 95,518.18 points.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 5.0550 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 4.9220 at Wednesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 5.8850 by market close, versus 5.7520 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 6.6080 Turkish liras, compared with 6.4680 at Wednesday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, an ounce of gold traded for $1,214.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,222.00 at the previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $72.77 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, from $72.39 at Wednesday's close.