Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Monday down 0.15 percent at 102,257.65 points with a trading volume of around 5.4 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.2 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 152.65-point decrease from the last week's close of 102,410.30 points, while it opened the day at 102,166.51 points, down 0.24 percent.

The USD/TRY exchange rose to 4.5920 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Monday, compared with 4.4920 at Friday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 5.4010 by market close, versus 5.2810 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded 6.1760 Turkish liras, compared with 6.0500 at Friday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell by 0.31 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,283.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Monday, compared with $1,287.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil dropped to $78.51 per barrel as of 18.00 a.m. local time (1500GMT) Monday, from $79.25 at the last week's close. During the last week, it saw over $80 level for the first time since Oct. 2014. It was over $110 in the first half of 2014 and around $60 by the end of 2014. It was at its lowest level in the beginning of 2016, at $34.70.