Borsa Istanbul up at Friday open

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s benchmark stock index opened at 1,432.68 points on Friday, up 0.47% or 6.68 points from the previous close.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index hit an all-time high on Thursday, closing the day at 1,426.00 points, with a daily trading volume of 31.7 billion Turkish liras (nearly $4.1 billion).

The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose to 7.5820 from 7.5670 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT).

The euro/Turkish lira exchange rate also increased to 9.2570 from 9.2190, while one British pound traded for 10.3100 at the previous close.

One barrel of Brent crude oil sold for around $51.37 as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT).

On Thursday, the Turkish Central Bank's hike in its benchmark interest rate from 15% to 17% was hailed by markets, seen as evidence of its determination to fight inflation.

Following the move, the Turkish lira appreciated some 1% against the US dollar, with the dollar/Turkish lira rate falling to 7.57 from over 7.61.