BIST 100 index falls nearly 700 points, Turkish lira gains ground.

Turkey’s benchmark stock index decreased by 0.75 percent to close at 91,854.08 points on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index started the day at 91,864.24 points and lost 698.64 points from Wednesday’s close of 92,552.71 points.

The BIST 100 peaked at 92,425.16 points, while its daily low was 91,331.54 points.

With a trading volume of 5.2 billion Turkish lira ($990 million), the BIST 100’s total market value was around 592.6 billion Turkish liras ($111 billion) as of daily close.

Private lender Garanti Bank, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and state lender Halk Bank posted the highest trade volumes on Thursday.

Compared to Wednesday’s close, 29 stocks on the BIST 100 rose, 59 declined, and 12 were flat.

Shares of Turkish conglomerate Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) were the top gainers, up 10 percent, and shares of private lender ICBC Turkey Bank (ICBCT) were the worst, losing 10.1 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate declined to 5.2580 at close, down from Wednesday’s close of 5.3170.

The euro/lira rate slightly decreased at close; 6.0350 versus 6.0780 at the previous close.

One British pound was traded for 6.7790 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.7330 at close on Wednesday.

In Borsa Istanbul’s Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, the price of one ounce of gold was around $1,254.95 by market close, up from $1,248.55 a day ago.

Brent crude oil price was $55.84 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, versus $57.24 at previous close.