24 January 2019•Update: 24 January 2019
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Turkey's benchmark stock index surged 1.63 percent to close at 101.774.29 points on Thursday.
Starting the day at 100,453.78 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index went up 1,633.25 points from the previous close.
On Thursday, the BIST 100's daily low was 100,314.69 points, while 77 stocks on the index rose, 17 fell, and six were flat compared to the previous close.
Reaching nearly a market value of 662 billion Turkish liras ($124.5 billion), the benchmark index saw billion Turkish lira ($1.62 billion) daily trade volume.
The BIST 100's top companies by market capitalization were Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding ($8.16 billion), private lender Garanti Bankasi ($7.19 billion), and energy giant Tupras ($6.50 billion).
Garanti Bankasi, Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and defense firm Aselsan posted the highest trade volumes on Thursday.
Stocks of Parsan Makina (PARSN), operating in steel forging and machinery, enjoyed the top performance with a 13.92-percent hike, as shares of conglomerate Ittifak Holding (ITTFH) saw the biggest drop, losing 2.40 percent.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.2700 as of daily close, falling from 5.3120 at Wednesday's close.
One euro traded for 5.9880 , compared to 6.0360 at the previous close.
The British pound/Turkish lira exchange rate also fell during Thursday's trading -- standing at 6.8940 by market close, versus 6.9440 a day earlier.
One ounce of gold was sold for $1,280.25 at the daily close in Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, down from $1,285.50 at the previous close.
After ranging over the day from $60.41 to $61.38, the price of Brent oil was around $60.94 per barrel as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Thursday.
