Turkish stocks end week with loss

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index went down 0.55 percent to stand at 98,192.55 points at Friday's closing, marking a 0.76-percent loss compared with last week.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index closed the week with a 544.46-point decrease, while the total trading volume was 3.5 billion Turkish liras (approximately $996 million).

The banking and holding indices fell by 0.28 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the construction index was the best performer -- up 0.15 percent -- while the mining sector suffered the largest drop, down 2.84 percent.

The index's top five stocks by transaction volume were private lender Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private equity firm Gozde Girisim, and lenders Akbank and Halkbank

Shares of Odas Elektrik (ODAS), an energy company, were the top gainer, up 2.16 percent, while stocks of Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) were the worst performer, falling 20 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate dropped slightly to 3.5120 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) on Friday, compared with 3.5190 at Thursday's close.

One dollar was traded for 3.5280 at the close of last week, June 9, down from 3.94 in mid-January this year due to measures taken by the Turkish Central Bank.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index fell by one percent, while the price of gold per kilogram also decreased to 145,500 Turkish liras (around $41,437) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT).