Turkey's Borsa Istanbul ends week with gains

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index went up 0.81 percent to close at 95,584.84 points on Friday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 767.58-point hike from Thursday's close of 94,817.26 points, while it started the last business day of the week at 94,902.91 points.

On a weekly basis, the BIST 100 rose 1.60 percent compared to its close at 94,082.34 points last Friday. Since the beginning of this year, the index has fallen around 18.5 percent, as it hit its all-time high at 121,531.50 points on Jan. 29.

One U.S. dollar traded for 4.8590 Turkish liras as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), increasing from 4.8170 at Thursday's close. The USD/TRY rate went up 1.63 percent on a weekly basis, while it was 3.65 on average last year.

The euro/lira exchange rate was 5.6650 by market close, versus 5.6330 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 6.3890 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.3420 at Thursday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,221.50 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Friday, down from $1,229.00 at the previous close.

As of 6.15 p.m. local time (1515GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $74.54 per barrel -- hovering between $74.13 and $74.85 on Friday -- climbing from around $66 at the beginning of 2018.