UPDATE - Turkey's Borsa Istanbul ends week with gains

UPDATES WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES FOR SECTORS AND STOCKS

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.

On Friday, the total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 630.6 billion Turkish liras ($130.8 billion) at close, while the total trade volume of the benchmark index was around 8 billion Turkish liras ($1.64 billion).

The benchmark index hovered between 94,444.54 points and 95,977.33 points during trading hours, while 53 stocks on the BIST 100 rose, 36 fell, and 11 were flat compared to the previous close.

Among all sectors, the BIST construction index was the top gainer, up 2.62 percent, while the BIST technology index fell the most, declining 0.85 percent.

Stocks of private lender ICBC Turkey Bank (ICBCT) were the top gainer, up 19.91 percent, and shares of pharmaceutical company Eczacibasi Ilac (ECILC) saw the biggest drop, down 4.02 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, major defense company Aselsan, iron and steel producer Kardemir, and prominent polyester producer Sasa.

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.