ANKARA (AA) – The Borsa Istanbul opened down Friday, falling 142.36 points during its first transactions.
The BIST 100 index declined 0.19 percent to open at 76,218.00 points.
On the fifth day of the week, the banking sector and the holding sector indices fell by 0.18 percent and 0.15 percent, respectively.
Among all the indices, the securities investment trust sector advanced the most with a 0.72 percent rise, while the biggest loss was seen in the insurance sector index, which dropped 1.33 percent.
The Central Bank said on Friday that Turkey’s current account deficit stood at $1.7 billion in September, up from a $167 million surplus in the same month last year, due to declining income from tourism.
Analysts said the market Friday will be following the Michigan November consumer confidence index in the world’s largest economy, the U.S., as well as a speech by Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.
On Friday, Asian markets have been trending flat after Thursday’s rally, while European markets are expected to open mixed.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate, which was at 3.2350 by the time markets closed at 5.30 p.m. Thursday, surged 0.5 percent to 3.2510 at 10.15 a.m. Friday.
