Turkish stocks go up more at close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index advanced by 1.16 percent or 1,139.58 points at Monday's close.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index reached 99,332.13 points with a total trading volume of 3.6 billion Turkish liras ($1.02 billion).

The banking and holding indices rose 2.16 percent and 1.11 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the electricity sector index was the best performer -- up 2.92 percent -- while the leasing factoring index saw the biggest decline, falling 1.10 percent.

Stocks of Zorlu Enerji, one of Turkey's leading companies operating in the energy industry, was the top gainer with an increase of 8.73 percent in value.

Shares of Gozde Girisim, a Turkish private equity firm controlled by food giant Ulker, suffered the largest decline, with its shares going down by 8.90 percent.

The five most-traded stocks were private lenders Garanti, private equity firm Gozde Girisim, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines and another private lender Akbank followed by Zorlu Enerji.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was flat at 3.5170 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) on Monday, compared with 3.5120 at Friday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index fell by 0.48 percent while the price of gold per kilogram slightly rose to 141,560 Turkish liras (some $40,239) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT), from 141,500 Turkish liras (around $41,437) at Friday's close.