Turkish shares higher at close, lira loses to dollar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish stocks ended on a high Wednesday as stocks outnumbered falling ones by 211 to 140.

A total of 148 stocks remained unchanged.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100, the country’s benchmark index, closed 1.03 percent, or 796 points, higher at 77,853.65.

On the third trading day of the week, the banking sector index rose about 0.54 percent, while the mining and tourism indexes lost 0.81 percent and 0.04, respectively.

The total trading volume Wednesday was 5.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion), one of the highest in recent months.

Borsa Istanbul's most actively traded stocks belonged to the national flag-carrier, Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank, private lenders Akbank and Garanti Bank, and cement maker Afyon Cimento, (AFYON), which saw a decreased of 2.83 percent.

The largest winner was the retailer KIPA, which saw an increase of 18.06 percent. At the other end, Nurol (DGATE), a real estate investment trust, saw the largest decrease, 2.30 percent.

- Gold prices down sharply

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index lost sharply, 1.62 percent in value, Wednesday compared to Thursday’s closing, with gold trading at 125,250 Turkish liras per kilogram.

- Lira above 3

Meanwhile, Turkey's currency fell against the U.S. dollar, standing at over 3.058 compared to Tuesday's close of 3.0485.

The share of companies, which have more foreign currency denominated assets, remain in demand by investors in the stock exchange after the dollar’s rise against the local currency, ALB Securities analyst Enver Erkan said.

"Industrial companies led the rise in Borsa Istanbul because these companies have foreign currency denominated balance sheet and the firm’s shares are affected by the changes in the exchange," Erkan added.