UPDATE - Borsa Istanbul down over 3 pct at close

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 3.10 percent to 100,652.27 points with a trading volume of around 8.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.89 billion) at the closing session on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 3,216.75-point decrease from the previous close of 103,869.02 points, while it opened the day at 104,264.40 points, up 0.38 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 100,579.80 points and 104,375.30 points, while four stocks on the index were on the rise, 51 on the decline, and 45 flat compared to the previous close.

The banking and holding sector indices decreased 5.92 percent and 2.57 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the insurance sector index was the best performer, rising 0.45 percent, and the leasing factoring sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 6.84 percent.

Stocks of conglomerate Metro Holding climbed the most, up 10 percent, while shares of energy company Ayen were the worst, falling 8.14 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were private lender Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, polyester producer Sasa, iron/steel producer Kardemir and petrochemical producer Petkim.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.5210 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 4.5030 at Wednesday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last week.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased to 5.2780 by market close, versus 5.2320 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.0260 Turkish liras, compared with 5.9980 at Wednesday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.28 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,303.70 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,300.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $78.63 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, from $77.19 at the previous close.

Turkey's exports totaled some $55 billion in the Jan-April period, a 8.6 percent year-on-year rise, and imports rose 20.8 percent to $82.5 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Thursday.

The country's foreign trade balance showed a $27.4 billion deficit in this period, a yearly increase of 56.2 percent.

Nearly 7.8 million foreigners visited Turkey in the first four months of 2018, up 32.55 percent on a yearly basis, the Culture and Tourism Ministry announced on Thursday.