Borsa Istanbul up at over 1 pct at closing

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL

Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Tuesday up 1.38 percent at 92,708.56 points with a trading volume of around 6.4 billion Turkish liras ($1.16 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,263.28-point increase from Monday's close of 91,445.28 points, while it opened the day at 91,532.34 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 91,297.67 points and 93,094.93 points, while 64 stocks on the index were on the rise, 27 on the decline, and nine flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 603.3 billion Turkish liras ($110.2 billion) at close, while the banking and holding sector indices climbed 2.67 percent and 1.48 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the mining sector index was the best performer, rising 4.81 percent, and the wholesale and retail trade sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 1.75 percent.

Shares of cement maker Goltas Cimento climbed the most, up 15.52 percent, while stocks of supermarket chain Sok Marketler did the worst, falling 3.45 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, state lender Halkbank, defense company Aselsan and iron/steel producer Kardemir.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 5.5000 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 5.4420 at Monday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 6.2020 by market close, versus 6.1370 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate reached 7.1330 Turkish liras, compared with 7.0420 at Monday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,199.20 as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) Tuesday, down from 1,208.20 at the previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil dropped to $67.78 per barrel compared with $71.15 at the end of Monday.