Turkish stock exchange up by over 2% at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish benchmark stock index closed Thursday at 9,975.61 points, up by 2.06% from the previous close.

The BIST 100 index started the day at 9,872.85 points, increasing by 201.12 points from the midweek's close.

The lowest value of the index for the day was 9,851.95, while its daily high was 9,980.81.

While five indices dropped during the day, 95 gained value.

The total transaction volume reached 85 billion Turkish liras ($2.49 billion), while the overall value of the index was 8.4 trillion liras ($247.33 billion).

The USD/TRY exchange rate was 34.0280 as of 6.35 p.m. local time (1535GMT), the EUR/TRY rate stood at 37.9220 and the GBP/TRY traded at 45.1650.

The price of an ounce of gold was $2,584.15, while a barrel price of Brent oil was around $74.40.