Turkish stocks up at close, lira hits 4-month high

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index surged 1.12 percent to close at 95,125.57 points on Thursday, as Turkish lira hit a 4-month high against the U.S. dollar.

Starting the day at 94,963.22 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index climbed 1,054.61 points from Wednesday's close.

On Thursday, Turkish lira continued its upward against the U.S. dollar. By market close, the USD/TRY fell to 5.1620, versus 5.2610 at the previous close.

The exchange rate was around 5.15 on Aug. 6, while it saw its historic high at over 7.00 on Aug. 13.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.8830, down from Wednesday's close of 5.9360.

The British pound/Turkish lira rate also saw a steep decline, falling to 6.6050 compared with 6.7270 at close on Wednesday.

One ounce of gold was sold for $1,227.90 at daily close, as the price was $1,215.00 at the previous close of Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent oil was around $59.71 per barrel as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) Thursday, hovering between $57.78 and $60.23 during the day.