Turkish stocks open higher after global stocks gain

ANKARA

Turkish stocks opened higher on Friday following the closing of world’s major stock indexes at record highs on Thursday as oil prices attempted to stabilize.

Global equity markets once again ended the day with gains in general, which was attributed to recent earnings’ reports.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST-100, the country’s benchmark index, was up 0.34 percent (267.78 points) to reach 79,301.35 at opening of the daily session Friday, after rising 1.38 percent Thursday amid normalization of relations between Moscow and Ankara.

The country's banking stocks were up 0.31 percent at the opening on Friday, which followed a 1.99 percent rise the previous day.

The Turkish lira was slightly higher than the previous day's close. The lira fell to 2.954 against the dollar after gaining 0.07 percent Thursday. The lira also appreciated by 0.06 percent against the basket composed of $0.50 and €0.50 Thursday.

The local fixed-income markets were relatively flat. The two-year benchmark bond was traded at 9.18 percent, 3 base points above its previous close.

On Friday morning, the benchmark 10-year government bond yield remained at 9.41 percent without change.

The Turkish Petroleum Refineries (TUPRAS) posted its net profit decline by 53.5 percent, (331 million liras or $111 million) in the second quarter of this year, after it went down from 710 million liras ($240 million) in the second quarter of 2015.

The country’s energy giant’s shares lost nearly 3 percent to 60.7 liras in the morning after its profits did not meet the market expectations.

Turkey's biggest petrochemicals firm Petkim announced 227 million liras ($77 million) profit for the second quarter, beating the market average estimate of 153 million liras ($52 million).

Petkim's shares gained nearly 2 percent to reach 4.29 liras at opening of the BIST-100.