ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day up 613.63 points to reach 89,933.88 points on Thursday, its highest level since January 2015.
The BIST 100 index rose 0.69 percent with a total trading volume of 4.4 billion Turkish liras (approximately $1.19 billion).
On the fourth day of the week, the banking and holding sector indices climbed 0.72 percent and 1.14 respectively.
Among all sectors, the construction index was the best performer -- up 2.52 percent -- while the real estate investment trusts index was the worst, falling 1.17 percent.
The most heavily traded stocks were lenders Garanti, the country's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s major defense systems producer Aselsan, and lenders Halkbank and Is Bankasi.
Shares of Metro Holding (METRO), active in the tourism, food processing, real estate, mining, and energy sectors, were the best performer of the day, rising 15 percent.
Stocks of Kipa, which operates over 150 supermarkets in Turkey, saw the largest decline of the day, falling 9.80 percent. The company's shares were the best performer yesterday, up 20 percent.
Turkey’s foreign trade deficit in February declined sharply from the previous month, preliminary statistics from the Customs and Trade Ministry showed on Thursday.
Exports in February were worth $12.12 billion, up 7.4 percent from the previous month, while imports edged up 1.5 percent to reach $15.82 billion, according to ministry data.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose to 3.6990 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Thursday, compared to 3.6670 at Wednesday's closing.
The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index lost 0.18 percent of its value while the price of gold per kilogram on a lira basis surged to 147,280 Turkish liras (around $39,780) as of Thursday's closing, compared with 145,500 Turkish liras (around $40,275) at Wednesday's closing.