Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down at close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Wednesday down 5.18 percent at 91,289.47 points with a trading volume of around all-time high 11.8 billion Turkish liras (nearly $2.5 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 4,985.22-point drop from Tuesday's close of 96,274.69 points, while it opened the day at 95,281.65 points, down 1.03 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 91,215.90 points and 95,281.65 points, while 5 stocks on the index were on the rise, 94 on the decline, and one flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 602.8 billion liras ($128.1 billion) at close, while the banking and holding sector indices lost 9.19 percent and 3.96 percent, respectively.

While all sector indices closed day down, the leasing factoring sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 10.39 percent.

Stocks of TAV Airports Holding climbed the most, up 3 percent, while shares of furniture manufacturer Dogtas Kelebek suffered the worst, falling 13.45 percent.

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

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.7680 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared with 4.6990 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate also increased slightly to 5.6020 by market close, versus 5.5020 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate rose to 6.3290 Turkish liras, compared with 6.2370 at Tuesday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,250.10 as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,249.00 at Tuesday's close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil dropped to $76.88 per barrel on the last transaction day's closing, compared with $78.61 at the end of Tuesday.

Turkey's current account deficit has widened by $516 million year-on-year, to reach nearly $5.88 billion in May, the central bank announced Wednesday. The country's 12-month rolling deficit reached $57.6 billion in May.