Turkish shares higher at close, BIST up over 1 pct

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s benchmark index was up 1.11 percent at the close of the daily session Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The BIST 100 index increased by 869.45 points to close at 79,209.85. The total trading volume of the country's stock exchange market was 3.6 billion Turkish liras (approx. $1.17 billion).

The index was also up over one percent on Tuesday's close. Analysts said this two-day increasing trend was related to expectations of a decision to lower interest rates by Turkey's central bank.

On the second day of the week, the banking sector index advanced 1.08 percent; the holding sector index was up 0.98 percent.

Among the sector indices, the real-estate investment trusts index increased most with 2.97 percent while the biggest decline was seen in the leasing and factoring index which went down 0.47 percent.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index rose 0.78 percent in value, with gold trading at 125,750 Turkish liras (some $40,918) per kilogram.

The Turkish lira gained value against the U.S. dollar to trade at 3.0770 compared to Tuesday's closing rate of 3.1060.

Analysts said that domestically, investors are expected to follow Turkey's central bank interest rate decision plus the European Central Bank's interest rate action in addition to figures from the U.S. set to be revealed on Thursday.