Turkish benchmark stock index ends week with gains

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index ended Friday with a 0.53 percent hike to close at 102,410.30 points with a trading volume of 4.77 billion Turkish liras ($1.06 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 540.95 points, up from Thursday's close of 101,869.35 points, while it started Friday at 102,033.23 points.

On a weekly basis, the index recorded a 0.55 percent rise. The BIST 100 hit its all-time high at 121,531.50 points on Jan. 29, while it has fallen by 12.8 percent since the beginning of this year.

During the sessions on the last business day of the week, the index saw the lowest level at 101,886.87 points and the highest at 102,884.67 points, while 53 stocks on the index were on the rise, 35 on the decline, and 12 flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 636.2 billion Turkish liras ($143.3 billion) at close. The banking and holding sector indices were up 1.30 and 1.39 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the BIST basic metal index fell the most -- down 1.36 percent -- and the leasing factoring sector index showed the best performance, climbing 4 percent.

Shares of conglomerate Metro Holding (METRO) were the top gainers of the day, up 8.08 ercent, while private equity firm Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) saw the biggest decline, with its stocks losing 5.28 percent in value.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were iron and steel producer Kardemir, lenders Garanti Bankasi and Halkbank, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines and leading polyester producer Sasa.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.4920 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Friday -- up from 4.4550 at Thursday's close -- while the exchange rate was 4.2480 last Friday. Since the beginning of 2018, the dollar/lira exchange rate has risen 19.5 percent while it was 3.65 on average last year.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.2810 by market close, versus 5.2600 at the previous close, and the British pound/lira exchange rate was 6.0500, compared with 6.0270 at Thursday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index ended the day with a 0.23 percent fall. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,287.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Friday, compared with $1,290.00 at Thursday's close.

As of 7 p.m. local time (1600GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $78.97 per barrel -- hovering between $78.87 and $79.86 during the last business day of the week -- up from around $66 at the beginning of 2018.