Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down 2% at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed the day at 111,412.70 points on Monday, down 2% from the previous close.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index started the day at 112,532.38 points. As of the daily close, it lost 2,271.31 points from Friday's close of 113,684.01 points.

The price of one ounce of gold was around $1,577.90 by market close, up significantly from $1,547.30 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude oil, which topped the $70 level during the day, was around $69.20 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) on Monday. Last month it was around $65-66.

After Friday's U.S. airstrike which killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and other Iranian and Iraqi officials in Baghdad, gold and oil prices rose sharply.