Borsa Istanbul flat at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Thursday up 0.01 percent at 93,296.84 points with a trading volume of around 7 billion Turkish liras ($1.3 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 9.68-point increase from Wednesday's close of 93,287.16 points, while it opened the day at 93,523.34 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 92,695.30 points and 94,002.47 points, while 42 stocks on the index were on the rise, 46 on the decline, and 12 flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 606.9 billion Turkish liras ($111.1 billion) at close, while the banking and holding sector indices dropped 1.26 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the leasing factoring sector index was the best performer, rising 11.90 percent, and the basic metal sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 1.75 percent.

Shares of leasing company Is Finansal Kiralama climbed the most, up 13.75 percent, while stocks of casting producer Cemas Dokum performed the worst, falling 11.02 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, defense company Aselsan, iron/steel producer Kardemir, and state lender Halkbank.

The USD/TRY exchange rate dropped to 5.4170 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 5.4610 at Wednesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also decreased to 6.1290 by market close, versus 6.1680 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate reached 6.9400 Turkish liras, compared with 7.0820 at Wednesday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,212.00 as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) Wednesday, up from 1,201.80 at the previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil rose to $66.92 per barrel compared with $67.26 at the end of Wednesday.

Unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 11.1 percent -- 3.67 million persons -- year-on-year in August 2018, Turkish Statistical Institute announced on Thursday.