Turkish shares hit all-time high

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark stock index closed the day up 1.11 percent at 108,391.71 points on Thursday -- its highest close ever.

The BIST 100 rose 1,185.55 points with a total trading volume of 5 billion Turkish liras (around $1.41 billion).

During trading hours, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index climbed to 108,605.51 points, its highest level ever.

The banking and holding sectors rose 1.25 and 0.71 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the BIST mining index performed the best, up 4.35 percent, while the information technology sector index declined the most, down 0.61 percent.

Stocks of Ipek Dogal Enerji (IPEKE), which operates in the energy sector, enjoyed the biggest rise on Thursday, up 15.95 percent, while leading polyester producer SASA Polyester Sanayi (SASA) did the worst, with its stocks falling by 5.04 percent.

The five most-traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), private lender Garanti (GARAN), mining company Koza Madencilik (KOZAA), defense giant Aselsan (ASELS), and private lender Akbank (AKBNK).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell to 3.5260 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT), compared to 3.5530 at Wednesday’s close. One dollar was traded for 3.5320 Turkish liras last Friday.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index rose 1.20 percent, while the price of gold per kilogram stood at 143,250 Turkish liras (some $40,567) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT) on Thursday.