By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Wednesday at 108,155.53 points, down 0.89 percent with a 5.6 billion Turkish lira ($1.63 billion) trade volume.
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 974.12 points, from 109,129.65 points at closing on Tuesday, while the banking and holding sector indexes were down 0.82 and 0.08 percent, respectively.
The information technology sector index increased the most with a 0.60 percent rise while the BIST transportation index saw the biggest drop on Wednesday, declining 3.95 percent.
Stocks of real estate investment trust Torunlar Gayrimenkul (TRGYO) showed the biggest rise on Wednesday -- up 5.46 percent -- and iron/steel producer Kardemir Karabuk's (KRDMD) shares were down 4.96 percent, the largest decline of the day.
The BIST 100's most traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), state lender Halkbank (HALKB), defense industry giant Aselsan (ASELS), private lender Garanti (GARAN) and major Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding (SAHOL).
Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index advanced 0.42 percent, while the price of gold per kilogram increased to 147,600 Turkish liras ($42,923) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) on Wednesday, up from 146,200 Turkish liras ($42,491) at Tuesday's close.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate hovered around 3.4460 by 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, while it was 3.4400 at closing on Tuesday.
One dollar was exchanged for 3.51 on average last month, while the first eight months' average exchange rate was 3.61.
The USD/TRY rate saw sharp fluctuations after last year's defeated July 15 coup and climbed to its historic hike -- around 3.94 liras -- in mid-January this year.
According to Turkish Central Bank data, the dollar/lira rate was 3.02 on average last year and 2.71 on average in 2015.