By Aysu Bicer
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed the day at 86,777.69 points on Tuesday, falling 1.26% from the previous close.
After starting the day at 88,923.35 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index went down 1,110.65 points from Monday's close of 87,888.34 points.
Addressing concerns over coronavirus, in an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, the Turkish Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee cut its policy rate from 10.75 to 9.75.
Analysts said this reduction eased pressure to sell on the stock market.
The index hovered between 81,936.40 points and 88,948.63 points during the day.
The total market value of the BIST 100 was around 597 billion Turkish liras ($93 billion) by close, with a daily trading volume of 9.1 billion Turkish liras ($1.4 million).
The highest trading volumes were posted by defense giant Aselsan, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and private lender Garanti Bank.
Stocks of major clothing manufacturer Mavi Giyim (MAVI) suffered the biggest drop of the day, falling 10%, while the stocks of coated cardboard producer Kartonsan did the best, up 3.44%.
The price of one ounce of gold was around $1,500.00 by market close, up from $1,470.40 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.
The price of Brent crude oil was around $30.11 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) on Tuesday, as global oil demand kept running low and the oil supply glut is rising as a result of coronavirus-related concerns.
The international benchmark fell to $29.55 per barrel on Monday at 1331GMT with a 12.7% daily loss, to reach its lowest level since Jan. 26, 2016, according to official data.