Turkish stocks start week down

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s benchmark stock index opened the week at 2,007.04 points on Monday, down 77.43 points, or 3.71%, from the previous close.

The BIST 100 index dropped sharply by 8.52% on Friday to close the week at 2,084.47 points, with a daily trading volume of 77 billion Turkish liras ($4.7 billion).

The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose to 17.2970 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), versus 16.8030 at the previous close.

The euro/lira exchange rate climbed to 19.4810 from 18.9880, while a British pound traded for 22.8090 liras, up from 22.4270.

Brent crude oil was sold for around $71.3 per barrel as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT).