Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down 0.58% at open

By Aysu Bicer

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index started Tuesday at 98,368.45 points, down 0.58% or 577.43 points.

On Monday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 0.78% to close the day at 98,945.88 points with a daily trading volume of 10.2 billion Turkish liras ($1.4 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose to 6.9490 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT) on Tuesday, compared to 6.9410 at the previous close.

The euro/Turkish lira exchange rate also fell to 7.5360, versus 7.5470, and one British pound traded for 8.6490 Turkish liras, versus 8.6570 at the previous close.

One barrel of Brent crude oil sold for around $26.64 as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT).

Moreover, the price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil sharply curtailed, falling into negative territory for the first time in history as demand continues to collapse amid the coronavirus lockdown.