UPDATE - Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down at close

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Friday down 2.79 percent at 95,875.71 points with a trading volume of around 7.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.67 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 2,747.95-point decrease from the previous close of 98,623.65 points, while it opened the day at 98,190.74 points, down 0.44 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 95,624.99 points and 98,190.74 points, while 15 stocks on the index were on the rise, 83 on the decline, and two flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 612.9 billion Turkish liras ($134.7 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices decreased 3.17 percent and 0.77 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the food beverage sector index was the best performer, rising 2.59 percent, and the transportation sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 10.36 percent.

Stocks of food giant Ulker Biskuvi climbed the most, up 8.95 percent, while shares of polyester producer Sasa were the worst, falling 11.90 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, leading defense industry company Aselsan, iron/steel producer Kardemir, private lender Garanti and polyester producer Sasa.

The USD/TRY exchange slightly slipped to 4.4910 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Friday, down from 4.4940 at Thursday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also dropped to 5.2830 by market close, versus 5,3140 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.0280 Turkish liras, compared with 6.0320 at Thursday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell by 0.12 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,298.20 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Friday, compared with $1,299.70 at the previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $76.25 per barrel -- hovering between $76.15 and $77.59 during the course of Friday -- up from around $66 at the beginning of 2018.