Borsa Istanbul down 1.25 pct at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index went down 1.25 percent to close at 116,052.15 points on Wednesday, with a total trading volume of 8.6 billion Turkish liras ($2.28 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index lost 1,472.05 points, while the banking and holding sectors indices fell by 1.48 percent and 1.62 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the food and beverage sector index was the top performer -- up 2.50 percent -- while the insurance sector index performed the worst, declining 2.86 percent.

The stocks of pipe and tube producer Erbosan performed the best, up 4.41 percent, while the stocks of Turkish conglomerate Tekfen Holding -- involved in oil, power generation, construction and infrastructure -- suffered the most, falling 4.48 percent.

The top five most-traded stocks were electronics appliances manufacturer Vestel, automotive manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv, iron and steel producer Kardemir, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines and private lender Garanti.

On Tuesday, the BIST 100 came to its highest-ever close with an increase of 1.90 percent or 2,191.19 points, to reach 117,524.20 points. The trade volume was 8 billion Turkish liras (approximately $2.12 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose slightly on Wednesday to 3.7660 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), up from 3.7590 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also stood at 4.5320 by market close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained 0.38 percent in value, while the price of gold per kilogram reached 159,250 Turkish liras (around $42,309) as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT).

As of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) Wednesday, the price of Brent oil was $67.47 per barrel, versus $66.44 at the previous close.

Turkey's exports saw its second highest export volume in the republic's history with $157.1 billion in 2017, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said earlier on Wednesday.