Borsa Istanbul up at opening

ANKARA (AA) - The BIST 100 index soared 318.90 points to open at 87,166.87 on Thursday in its first transactions.

On the fourth opening session of the week, the country's benchmark index started with a 0.37 percent increase.

The banking and holding sector indexes rose by 0.43 and 0.34 percent, respectively.

The tourism sector index rose the most, by 0.87 percent while the information technologies sector was the worst performer, falling 0.17 percent in initial transactions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell to stand at 3.7620 at 9.30 a.m. (0630GMT) Thursday, compared to 3.7710 at Wednesday's close.

Gold held at $1,214.38 an ounce.

U.S. crude futures declined by 0.50 percent to $53.61 a barrel, while benchmark Brent crude futures decreased by 0.39 percent to $56.58.