Turkish stock exchange reopens on Wednesday

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index surges 5.86% after 5-day closure in wake of Feb. 6 earthquakes

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish stock exchange reopened on Wednesday with gains after a five-day closure due to the Feb. 6 strong earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index opened at 4,769.15 points, surging 5.86%, or 263,81 points, from Feb. 7 close.

On Feb. 7, the BIST 100 index posted a sharp decline of 8.62% to close the day at 4,505.34, with a daily trading volume of 56.4 billion Turkish liras ($3 billion).

As the stock exchange operator canceled trading on Feb. 8, BIST 100 index had lost 16% since its Friday close before the quakes.

The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was at 18.8502 as of 10.07 a.m. local time (07.07GMT), the euro/lira exchange rate stood at 20.1872, while a British pound traded for 22.8111 Turkish liras.

Brent crude oil was selling for around $84.72 per barrel, while the price of an ounce of gold was $1,853.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, have killed at least 35,400 people while 105,500 others are injured.

The tremblors struck 10 provinces in Türkiye, and also affected other countries in the region including Syria.

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