Update - Turkey's Borsa Istanbul Ends Week With Gains

Turkey's benchmark stock index went up 1.94 percent to 97,988.16 points with a trading volume of around 7.6 billion Turkish liras ($1.21 billion) in the closing session on Friday.



On the last transaction day of the week, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,867.06-point gain from Thursday's close of 96,121.10 points, while it opened the day at 96,598.78 points, up 0.50 percent.



The benchmark index hovered between 96,598.78 points and 97,988.16 points, while 72 stocks were on the rise, 22 on the decline, and six flat compared to the previous close.



The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 642.5 billion liras ($102.4 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices gained 2.54 percent and 1.61 percent, respectively.



Among all sectors, the chemical petrol plastic sector index was the best performer, up 3.16 percent, and the construction sector index saw the biggest drop, down 0.53 percent.



The stocks of supermarket chain Sok Marketler (SOKM) climbed the most, up 6.67 percent, while the shares of real estate investment trust Ozderici (OZGYO) suffered the worst, falling 4.09 percent.



The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were the private lender Garanti, the national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, the defense company Aselsan, the telecommunication giant Turk Telekom and another private lender Akbank.



The USD/TRY exchange rate climbed to 6.2920 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Friday, compared with 6.2610 at Thursday's close.



The euro/lira exchange rate also rose to 7.3930 by market close, versus 7.3790 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 8.2270 Turkish liras, compared with 8.3370 at Thursday's close.



In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,206.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Friday, compared with $1,204.00 at the previous close.



As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $79.28 per barrel -- hovering between $78.59 and $80.12 during Friday -- climbing from around $66 at the beginning of 2018. -