UPDATE - Turkish stocks up at close

UPDATES WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES FOR STOCKS AND SECTORS

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Wednesday up 0.42 percent at 104,725.74 points with a trade volume of around 7.6 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 442.96-point hike from Monday's close of 104,282.78 points, while it opened the midweek trading day at 104,815.39 points with a 0.51 percent rise.

There were no transactions on Tuesday due to May 1, International Labor Day.

Over the sessions, the benchmark index saw the lowest level at 102,934.42 points and the highest level at 105,332.31 points, while 30 stocks on the index were on the rise, 67 on the decline, and three flat compared with the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 653 billion Turkish liras ($161.6 billion) at the close, while the BIST banking index fell by 0.34 percent and the holding sector index rose by 0.70 percent.

Among all sectors, the basic metal sector index was the best performer, rising 4.92 percent, and the BIST leasing factoring index recorded the biggest drop, declining 17.09 percent.

The shares of mining company Koza Madencilik (KOZAA) climbed highest, up 6.26 percent, while private equity firm Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) saw the biggest decline of the day, with its stocks losing 6.42 percent in value.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, gold miner Koza Altin, iron/steel producer Kardemir, state lender Halkbank.

The USD/TRY exchange increased steeply to 4.1770 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, versus 4.0440 at Monday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also rose to 5.0020 by market close, up from 4.8870 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate stood at 5.6900, compared with 5.6000 at Monday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell by 0.15 percent at close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,308.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,310.00 at Monday's close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $72.95 per barrel -- hovering between $72.53 and $73.63 during Wednesday -- climbing from around $66 at the beginning of this year.