Turkish stocks go up at close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index advanced 0.62 percent to close at 104,547.86 points on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index was up 640.29 points with a trade volume of 5 billion Turkish liras ($1.40 billion).

The banking and holding sector indices soared 1.77 and 0.45 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the tourism index was the worst performer, falling 1.05 percent, while the transportation sector index was the only one to rise, gaining 2.29 percent.

Shares of lender ICBC Turkey Bank (ICBCT) were the top gainer with a 19.87 percent increase, while iron and steel producer Eregli Demir Celik (EREGL) suffered the biggest decline, with its stocks going down 1.83 percent.

The five most-traded stocks of the BIST 100 were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), private lender Garanti (GARAN), state lender Halkbank (HALKB), iron and steel producer Kardemir Karabuk (KRDMD) and another lender ICBC Turkey Bank (ICBCT).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate dropped to 3.5710 by 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) on Wednesday, up from 3.5810 at Tuesday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index rose 0.35 percent with the price of gold per kilogram standing at 145,000 Turkish liras ($39,254) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT).

The benchmark stock index was down 23.10 points or 0.02 percent to close at 103,907.57 points on Tuesday.