Turkish stocks down nearly 1 pct at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Thursday at 107,334.78 points, going down 1,020 points with a trade volume of 5.2 billion Turkish liras ($1.36 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 0.94 percent from 108,54.83 points while the BIST banking index recorded the worst performance of the day -- down 2.28 percent -- and the holding sector index was steady with a 0.06 percent rise. Among all indices, the textile leather sector advanced the most, surging 1.41 percent.

Shares of the bedding and furniture company Yatas (YATAS) gained the most with a 4.88 percent hike while stocks of Is Bankasi (ISCTR), one of Turkey's largest and oldest private lenders, suffered the biggest drop, falling 3.09 percent.

Stocks of the BIST 100 with the highest trade volume were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), private lender Garanti (GARAN), defense company Aselsan (ASELS), followed by iron and steel producer Kardemir Karabuk (KRDMD) and real estate investment trust Emlak Gayrimenkul (EKGYO).

At Thursday's close, the EUR/TRY exchange rate increased to 4.4250 -- up from Wednesday's close at 4.4020 -- and the U.S. dollar/Turkish lira rate climbed to 3.7720, compared with 3.7300 at last close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index rose 0.16 percent and the price of gold per kilogram was 154,900 Turkish liras ($40,593) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) while it was 151,000 Turkish liras ($40,441) at Wednesday's close.

Brent crude oil price was $58.39 per barrel at Thursday's close, compared with $58.25 at Wednesday's close.