Turkey's Borsa Istanbul sees highest close

By Dilara Zengin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index gained 1,235.82 points to hit its highest level of 109,781.13 points at the close on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index increased by 1.14 percent with a total trading volume of 5.4 billion Turkish liras (approximately $1.52 billion).

Continuing recent months' upward trend, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index started the week at 109,105.09 points -- its highest opening of all time.

The BIST 100 index saw a historic peak of 109,947.87 points during Monday’s trading hours.

Turkey's benchmark stock index posted its highest-ever close -- 108,545.31 points -- last Friday, a 0.78-percent weekly increase.

On the first transaction day, the banking and holding sectors indices were up 1.24 percent and 0.99 percent, respectively.

All sectors indices were high while the mining sector was the best performer, going up 5.61 percent.

The stocks of Turkish conglomerate Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) enjoyed the biggest rise on Monday, gaining 11.11 percent in value, while the stocks of IT company Kron Telekomunikasyon (KRONT) saw a 1.58 percent decrease, marking the biggest drop of the day.

The five most-traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, mining company Koza Madencilik, major defense systems company Aselsan, private lender Garanti and pharmaceutical company Eczacibasi Ilac.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell to 3.5260 Turkish liras as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) on Monday, down from 3.5370 Turkish liras at Friday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index lost 0.39 percent in value, while the price of gold per kilogram stood at 142,900 Turkish liras (around $40.47) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT).