Borsa Istanbul down at close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed the day down 0.82 percent to reach 108,153.16 points on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index decreased 896.34 points from Tuesday's close of 105,303.94 points with a total trading volume of 5.4 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.4 billion).

The banking sector index slipped by 1.51 percent, while the holding sector index fell by 0.46 percent.

Among all sectors, the telecommunication sector index was the top performer -- up 0.94 percent -- while the mining sector index suffered the biggest drop with 5.07 percent.

Stocks of Ege Endustri (EGEEN), which manufactures components for the automotive industry, enjoyed a 3.59 percent rise, the highest of the day, while shares of energy and mining company Ipek Dogal Enerji (IPEKE), falling 7.43 percent.

The top five most-traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank, iron and steel producer Karabuk Kardemir, private lender Garanti and defense company Aselsan.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate increased to 3.8470 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, up from 3.8300 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also rose to 4.5230 by market close, up from Tuesday's close at 4.4990.

The BIST Gold Exchange index lost 0.08 percent in value, while the price of gold per kilogram increased to 153,000 Turkish liras (around $39,769) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), compared with Tuesday's closing price of 152,900 Turkish liras (around $39,914).

As of 6.10 p.m. local time (1510GMT) Wednesday, the price of Brent oil was $63.30 per barrel, compared with $63.34 of previous close.