Turkish stock market closes Wednesday with sharp losses

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye's benchmark stock index Borsa Istanbul closed on Wednesday with sharp losses, down 3.55% to 2,401.96 points.

Starting the day at 2,492.58 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index lost 88.28 points from the previous close of 2,490.24 points.

During midweek's trading, the BIST 100 hovered between 2,401.96 and 2,494.28 points as 11 stocks rose and 89 fell compared to the previous close.

Closing the day with a market value of around 2 trillion Turkish liras ($118 billion), the benchmark index posted a daily trading volume of 32.8 billion Turkish liras ($2 billion).

The highest trading volumes were posted by national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, glassmaker Sise Cam, and steel producer Eregli.

Insurance company Turkiye Sigorta was the best performer with its shares up 9.86%, while stocks of Ege Endustri, which manufactures components for the automotive industry, dropped the most, 8.09%.

An ounce of gold traded for $1,834.40 by market close, up from $1,831.10 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude was around $115 per barrel as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Wednesday.