Turkish stocks end week with gains

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Friday up 0.40 percent at 93,003.27 points with a trading volume of around 4.8 billion Turkish liras (around $912.2 million).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 374.47-point decrease from Thursday's close of 92,628.80 points, while it opened the day at 92,581.57 points.

The USD/TRY exchange rate dropped to 5.2800 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Friday, compared with 5.2950 at Thursday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also decreased to 5.9960 by market close, versus 6.0490 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate reached 6.7850 Turkish liras, compared with 6.8310 at Thursday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,223.65 as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) Friday, down from 1,228.80 at the previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil dropped rapidly by around 6 percent to $59.44 per barrel compared with $63.23 at the end of Thursday.