Turkish stocks up at Thursday's close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index ended Thursday at 119,849.65 points, rising 0.13% from the previous close.

Starting the day at 119,230.86 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index was up 160.18 points from the midweek close at 119,689.48 points.

During Thursday's trading, the BIST 100 hovered between 118,255.89 points and 119,871.80 points, with 24 stocks on the index rising, 71 falling, and five flat compared to the previous close.

Closing the day with a market value of nearly 826.8 billion Turkish liras ($139.2 billion), the benchmark index posted a daily trading volume of 11.1 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.8 billion).

Shares of national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, energy and mining company Ipek Dogal Enerji, and iron and steel producer Kardemir posted the highest trading volumes.

Stocks of tire manufacturer Brisa Bridgestone Sabanci Lastik gained the most -- up 4.39% -- while shares of energy firm Odas Elektrik did the worst, falling 4.49%.

An ounce of gold sold for $1,579.70 at the daily close in Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, versus $1,571.50 at the previous close.

The price of Brent oil was $57.70 per barrel as of 6.05 p.m. local time (1505GMT) on Thursday, with a day range of $57.26 to $58.77.