Borsa Istanbul up at opening ahead of Brexit vote

ISTANBUL (AA) - Borsa Istanbul's BIST-100 index was up 0.37 percent at the opening of the daily session Thursday, June 23, 2016.

The benchmark index increased slightly by 282.73 points to open at 77,750 after declined slightly, 0.3 percent, on Wednesday, when total trading volume was lower at 2.7 billion Turkish liras ($934 million).

According to finance experts, the lower volume this week suggests investors are waiting for the U.K's referendum results as voters go to the polls to decide on the future of their country’s EU membership on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Turkish market will be following the U.S. jobless claims asn well as U.S. new home sales data for last month.

The Turkish lira also gained 0.31 percent against dollar, closing at 2.898 on Wednesday. The two-year benchmark bond was traded within a tight range of 9.02 percent-9.09 percent, ending the day at a high of 9.09 percent, up 3 base points from its previous close.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank on Wednesday signaled that it was nearing the finalization of a simplification process.

"This means that the market will most probably see two more cuts of 25 base points at the bank's July and August meeting depending on domestic and global conditions," Seker Investment said in a client note on Thursday.

Turkey’s Central Bank on Tuesday cut its overnight lending rate by 50 basis points following recent cuts in the last three months. The overnight lending rate, which is the rate at which banks borrow from the Central Bank overnight, was cut 50 basis points from 9.5 percent to 9 percent.

Asian markets had been hesitant and mixed on Thursday as investors have favored safe-haven assets such as gold and government bonds.

European markets are expected to open positively.