Borsa Istanbul up at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index rose by 0.27 percent to 97,210.57 points with a trading volume of around 7.5 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.52 billion) in the closing session on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 258.34-point increase from last month's close of 96,952.23 points, while it opened the day at 97,121.83 points, up 0.17 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.9220 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared with 4.9110 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.7520 by market close, versus 5.7510 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 6.4680 Turkish liras, compared with 6.4570 at Tuesday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,222.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,220.00 at the previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $72.88 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Wednesday, from $74.72 on Tuesday's close.