Turkey's benchmark stock index up 0.52 pct at open

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index increased by 0.52 percent or 489.07 points to start the last trading day of the week at 93,785.90 points.

All sector indices went up at opening, while the BIST banking index showed the best performance -- rising 0.95 percent.

On Thursday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index was flat with a 9.68-point increase to close the day at 93,296.84 points with a trading volume of 7 billion liras ($1.3 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.3760 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), compared with Thursday's closing rate of 5.4170.

The euro/lira rate was 6.1030, versus 6.1290 at the last close. One British pound was traded for 6.9040 Turkish liras, as the GBP/TRY was 6.9400 by market close on Thursday.

The price of Brent oil was $67.29 per barrel as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) Friday.

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index increased by 0.52 percent or 489.07 points to start the last trading day of the week at 93,785.90 points.

All sector indices went up at opening, while the BIST banking index showed the best performance -- rising 0.95 percent.

On Thursday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index was flat with a 9.68-point increase to close the day at 93,296.84 points with a trading volume of 7 billion liras ($1.3 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.3760 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT), compared with Thursday's closing rate of 5.4170.

The euro/lira rate was 6.1030, versus 6.1290 at the last close. One British pound was traded for 6.9040 Turkish liras, as the GBP/TRY was 6.9400 by market close on Thursday.

The price of Brent oil was $67.29 per barrel as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) Friday.