Turkish stocks up over 1.3 pct at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index increased 1.32 percent on Monday to close at 108,614.87 points.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 1,412.44 points from last Friday's close at 107,202.43 points, with a 4.9 billion Turkish lira ($1.4 billion) total trading volume.

Since the beginning of the year, the index has risen 39.7 percent and reached its highest level of all times, hitting 110,232.52 points on last Tuesday.

The banking and holding sector indexes advanced by 1.68 and 1.63 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the BIST mining index closed the day with a fall -- down 0.97 percent -- while the basic metal index was the top gainer with a 3.02 percent hike.

Shares of poultry and feed producer Banvit (BANVT) were the best performer on Monday for the second trading day in a row with a 19.98 percent rise, while stocks of investment trust Global Yatirim Holding (GLYHO) fell the most in value, down by 3.23 percent.

The BIST 100's most traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), private lender Garanti (GARAN), energy company Zorlu Enerji (ZOREN), followed by iron/steel producer Kardemir Karabuk (KRDMD) and the country's leading petrochemicals producer Petkim (PETKM).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell to 3.4970 by 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), compared with 3.5230 at Friday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index decreased by 0.51 percent while the price of gold per kilogram stood at 145,250 Turkish liras ($41,547) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), down from 146,800 Turkish liras ($41,691) at Friday's close.