Turkey's benchmark stock index down at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index ended the first business day of the year down 2.64 percent to close at 88,865.01 points on Wednesday.

Starting the day at 90,986.13 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 2,405.47 points from Monday's close.

The markets were closed on Tuesday due to the New Year's Day official holiday.

The USD/TRY exchange rate was 5.3830 at daily close, while one U.S. dollar traded for 5.2920 Turkish liras before the holiday break.

The euro/lira rate stood at 6.1220, up from 6.0550 at the previous close.

One British pound traded for 6.7990 Turkish liras, compared with Monday's close of 6.7810 .

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, the price of one ounce of gold was around $1,288.40 by market close, versus $1,280.00 at the previous close.

Hovering between $52.52 and $54.39 during the day, the price of Brent oil was around $53.55 per barrel as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Wednesday.