Turkish shares hit new historic high at close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index hit 94,634.91 points in Tuesday's closing session, a new all-time record high.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index advanced 832.10 points with a total trading volume of 5.1 billion Turkish liras (more than $1.42 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose slightly to 3.5970 liras as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 3.5920 liras at Monday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index fell 0.15 percent, with the price of gold per kilogram at 146,430 Turkish liras (around $40,762) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT), down from 146,700 Turkish liras (around $40,830) at Monday's close.

On the second day of the week, the banking and holding indexes rose 0.64 and 1.23 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the basic metal industry index was the best performer with an increase of 2.23 percent while the mining sector was the worst, falling 2.95 percent.

Cemtas Celik Makina, a steel producer, was the top gainer of the day, its shares rising 6.25 percent, while shares of Koza Gold Corp. (KOZAA) fell the most, 8.70 percent.

The five most-traded stocks were lenders Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, iron and steel producer Eregli, and lenders Halkbank and Akbank.