Foreign Exchange Rates

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Turkish lira gained ground against the U.S. dollar on Thursday before the Brexit vote, gaining more than one percent against the dollar at 2.84.

After results which started to come in from the U.K.’s referendum on its EU membership showed the country had voted to leave the trading bloc, the dollar continued to appreciate against the Turkish lira, to almost three liras after investors favored safe-haven assets such as U.S. dollars and gold.

Global oil prices reacted to the Brexit vote by plunging 5.22 percent on Friday. Crude oil hit as low as $47.55 in an immediate reaction to a majority vote to leave EU.

Brent crude dropped by 5.22 percent and settled at $48.25 at 06:02 GMT on Friday.

The implications of the vote shook stock exchanges and currency markets early Friday when the official results became apparent. Almost 52 percent of the U.K. electorate said they wanted to leave the EU.