Borsa Istanbul hits 25-month high

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index was up 1,322.94 points to close at 91,044.99 on Monday, marking its highest level in just over two years.

The BIST 100 index rose 1.47 percent with a total trading volume of four billion Turkish liras (approximately $1.08 billion).

On the first trading day of the week, the banking and holding indexes were up 1.75 and 2.25 percent, respectively.

Among all sector indexes, the leasing and factoring index was the best performer -- up 4.18 percent -- while the sports sector was the worst, falling 0.86 percent.

The most heavily-traded stocks were lenders Garanti and Halkbank, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines plus other landers Yapi Kredi and Akbank.

Shares of Yazicilar Holding (YAZIC), which operates mainly in beverages, retail trade, and automotive sectors, were the best performer of the day, rising 4.97 percent.

Stocks of Park Elektrik (PRKME), heavily involved in the energy and mining sectors, saw the largest decline of the day, falling 2.27 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate hovered around 3.70. One dollar was worth 3.7100 liras as of 5.15 p.m. (1415 GMT) Monday, compared to 3.7250 at Friday's closing, after seeing a historic hike -- over 3.90 liras -- in mid-January.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index gained 0.42 percent while the price of gold per kilogram decreased to 147,030 Turkish liras (around $39,590) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT), compared to 147,300 Turkish liras (around $39,571) at Friday's closing.