Turkey's Borsa Istanbul up over 1.7 pct at close

By Gokhan Ergocun</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey's benchmark stock index climbed 1.76 percent to close at 99,677.11 points on Tuesday.</p> <p>Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index started the day at 97,990.90 points, gaining 1.721,95 points from Monday's close of 97,955.16 points.</p> <p>The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.3490 at close, up from Monday's close of 5.3360.</p> <p>The euro/lira rate increased to 6.1060 at Tuesday's close, versus 6.0660 at the previous close. </p> <p>One British pound traded for 6.9300 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.8820 at close on Monday. </p> <p>In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, the price of one ounce of gold was around $1,284.10 by market close, up from $1,279.50 the previous day.</p> <p>The price of Brent crude oil dropped rapidly to $60.72 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Tuesday, versus $62.94 at the previous close.