Turkey's Borsa Istanbul flat at open

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index started Thursday down 0.07 percent or 64.96 points to open at 99,083.90 points.

The banking sector index rose 0.02 percent and holding sector index fell 0.04 percent.

The BIST metal products machinery index was the worst performer at open with a 0.58-percent decline, while the leasing factoring sector index was the top gainer with a 0.37-percent increase.

On Wednesday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 0.14 percent to close at 99,148.85 points with a trading volume of some 6.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.06 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate stood at 6.1210 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), compared with Wednesday's closing rate of 6.1070. The rate was 6.7840 at the end of August.

The euro/lira rate was 7.1750 on Thursday morning, versus 7.1700 at the previous close, while one British pound was traded for 8.0570 Turkish liras, versus 8.0610 at Wednesday's close.

The price of Brent oil was $81.62 per barrel as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) Thursday, starting the day at $81.17, while it was around $66 at the beginning of this year.