Turkish stocks record over 3 percent weekly increase

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index recorded a 3.16 percent weekly increase to close at 111,292.78 points on Friday, compared with the close at 107,884.03 points on Oct. 27.

On a daily basis, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 1,702.09 points or 1.51 percent, down from Thursday's close at 112,994.86 points.

During the trading hours of the country's equity market, volume of the transactions in the BIST 100 amounted to 7.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.94 billion).

On Thursday, the benchmark index saw its all-time peak at 114,539.84 points, as its climb from the beginning of this year hit over 43 percent.

On the last transaction day of the week, the banking and holding sector indices declined by 3.43 and 1.95 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the food beverages index showed the best performance with a 1.83 percent hike and the BIST mining index fell the most, going down 3.58 percent.

The BIST 100 top five most-traded stocks were defense giant Aselsan (ASELS), national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), real estate investment trust Emlak Konut (EKGYO), followed by electronics/appliances manufacturer Vestel (VESTL) and automotive manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv (KARSN).

On Friday, Karsan Otomotiv (KARSN) was the worst performer, as its shares saw 6.37 percent decline, while stocks of private equity firm Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) were the top gainer with a 10.63 percent increase.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate climbed to 3.8650 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Friday, down from 3.8150 at Thursday close.

The EUR/TRY exchange rate also rose to 4.4990 by market close, up from Thursday's close at 4.4470.

The BIST Gold Exchange index advanced 0.25 percent while the price of gold per kilogram also increased to 157,500 Turkish liras ($40,660) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), compared with Thursday's closing price of 156,180 Turkish liras ($41,021).

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) Friday, Brent oil price was $60.86 per barrel compared with $60.48 at Thursday's close.