Turkey's benchmark stock index ends lower

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index ended down 1.78 percent Wednesday at 114,129.30 points with a total trade volume of 7.6 billion Turkish liras ($1.9 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 2,067.24 points from Tuesday's close of 116,196.54. During trading hours, the BIST 100 hovered between 113,858.73 and 116,024.73.

On a daily basis, 17 stocks on the index were up, 75 were down and eight were flat compared with the previous close while the total market value of listed shares was 717.8 billion Turkish liras ($180.5 billion) at the close.

The banking and holding sector indices ended lower, falling 2.30 percent and 1.18 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the BIST information technology index performed the worst -- down 3.32 percent -- while all sector indices recorded a decline.

Sasa Polyester (SASA) was the top gainer Wednesday, rising 9.12 percent, while automotive company Ford Otosan (FROTO) was the worst performer, dropping 6.55 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti and electronic appliances manufacturer Vestel followed by Sasa Polyester and private lender Akbank.

The USD/TRY exchange rate continued its upward trend, climbing to 4.0120 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday. It was 3.9790 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate rose to 4.9600, up from its previous close of 4.9370.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell by 0.37 percent while one kilogram of gold traded for 172,350 liras ($43,137) as of 5:30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) versus 172,800 liras ($43,330) at Tuesday's close.

As of 7:25 p.m. local time (1625GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $68.44 per barrel after hovering between $67.98 and $69.46 during the day.