Turkish stocks end week with losses

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Friday down 772.88 points to stand at 116,859.19 points with a total trade volume of 5.63 billion Turkish liras ($1.48 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 0.66 percent, down from Thursday's close of 117,632.07 points. During the day, the BIST 100 hovered between 116,265.20 and 117,590.27 points.

On a daily basis, 30 stocks in the BIST 100 saw an increase, 63 shares suffered a decrease, and seven stocks went flat compared to the previous close. Among all sectors, the BIST mining index was the top gainer with a 1.90 percent rise, while the BIST transportation index saw the largest decline, going down 3.59 percent.

On Friday, the BIST banking index ended the day with a 0.51 percent drop -- four stocks were up and nine shares fell. The BIST holding index also declined, falling 0.27 percent.

Stocks of Ege Endustri (EGEEN), which manufactures components for the automotive industry, enjoyed a 6.01 percent rise, the highest of the day, while private equity firm Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) saw the biggest decline of the day, with its stocks losing 5.15 percent in value.

The five most traded company stocks were flag carrier Turkish Airlines, leading petrochemicals producer Petkim, gold miner Koza Altin, followed by private lender Garanti, and iron and steel producer Kardemir.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate stood at 3.8220 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) on Friday, down from 3.8140 at Thursday's close.

The EUR/TRY exchange rate increased to 4.7040, marking a sharp increase from 4.6500 at the previous close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index was also up, gaining 0.99 percent with the price of gold per kilogram climbing to 162,250 Turkish liras ($42,498) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), compared to 160,800 Turkish liras ($42,184) on Thursday.

As of 6.45 p.m. local time (1545GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $63.56 per barrel -- down from its highest level of $64.23 earlier in the day, while the lowest figure was $63.21 per barrel.