Istanbul gold sees heavy volume trade on arbitrage
ISTANBUL, Aug 1 (Reuter) - The Istanbul gold exchange enjoyed active trading on Friday with volume up to 2,765 kg from Thursday's 2,030 kg on seasonal physical demand and banks engaging in arbitrage, dealers said.
Gold closed easier in dollar terms at $325.40 an ounce from $328.00 on Thursday, following lower levels on European markets, but rose in lira terms to 1,689,000 lira per gram versus 1,683,000 as the lira weakened against the dollar.
``The banks engaged heavily in arbitrage today, but this was backed up with sustained physical demand,'' one dealer said.
The Turkish lira closed at 160,290 lira to the dollar compared to the previous close on Wednesday of 159,600.
Almost all of the day's trade -- 2,635 kg -- took place in the morning session, with 54.0 percent conducted in lira terms. |
