Turkish benchmark stock index flat at open

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index rose 0.09 percent or 88.27 points to open at 95,499.76 points on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index surged 2.40 percent to close the day at 95,411.49 points with a daily trading volume of 8.7 billion Turkish liras ($1.62 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.3670 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), slightly up from Wednesday's closing rate of 5.3630.

The euro/lira rate stood at 6.1290, versus 6.1170 at the last close. One British pound traded for 6.9260 Turkish liras, as the GBP/TRY rate was 6.9220 by market close on Wednesday.

The price of Brent oil dropped to $61.02 per barrel as of 10.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT) Thursday, versus $61.32 at the previous close.