Borsa Istanbul up over 2 pct at close

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day up 1,841.92 points to 89,320.25 Wednesday.

The BIST 100 index advanced 2.11 percent with a total trading volume of 5 billion Turkish liras (over $1.36 billion).

On the third day of the week, the banking and holding indices advanced 3.12 and 1.65 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the transport sector index was the best performer -- up 3.86 percent -- while the sports sector was the worst, falling 1.10 percent.

The most heavily traded stocks were private lender Garanti, the country's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, plus lenders Halkbank, Isbank, and Akbank.

Stocks of Kipa, which operates over 150 supermarkets in Turkey, were the best performer of the day, rising 20 percent, while Turkish conglomerate Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) suffered the biggest drop of the day, with its stocks falling 2.70 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate jumped to 3.6670 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Wednesday compared to 3.6180 at Tuesday's closing.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index gained 0.70 percent while the price of gold per kilogram rose to 145,500 Turkish liras (around $36,681) as of closing, compared with 145,750 Turkish liras (around $40,275) at Tuesday's closing.

Turkey’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing sector was 49.7 in February, a five-month high, according to a report from IHS Markit on Wednesday.

An Istanbul Chamber of Industry PMI Manufacturing Index report done in cooperation with IHS Markit showed a 1-point advance from the previous month, signaling a rebalancing of the country’s manufacturing sector.

Meanwhile, Turkey's exports climbed 5.1 percent year-on-year in February, according to data from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) Wednesday.

Exports were around $11.3 billion last month and the country's total exports over the last 12 months stood at over $143.2 billion, up 2.6 percent over the previous 12 months.