Turkish stock exchange opens week in red

Trkiye's benchmark stock index opened Monday at 4,489.58 points, diving 6.38%, or 306.03 points as investors are absorbing the election results. Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index closed Friday at 4,795.61 points, down 1.08%. The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was at 19.6500 as of 09.54 a.m. local time (0654GMT), the euro/lira exchange rate stood at 21.3537, while a British pound traded for 24.5036 Turkish liras. Brent crude oil was selling for around $73.83 per barrel, while the price of an ounce of gold was $2,021.05. Millions of Turkish citizens cast their votes on Sunday to elect the president and a 600-member parliament in the highly anticipated elections. With 99.38% of votes counted in presidential elections, the final results of the elections are awaited. Latest results by Anadolu put President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the lead with 49.42%. Leader of the opposition Republican People's Party Kemal Kilicdaroglu is behind with 44.95%. Sinan Ogan, the third candidate, is at 5.20%. If no presidential candidate secures more than 50% votes, there will be a runoff on May 28.

Source: Anadolu Agency