Turkish stocks down at close

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index was down 1.02 percent at the close of the daily session Wednesday.

The BIST 100 index declined 775.09 points to close at 75,036.90. The total trading volume of the country's stock exchange market was 2.9 billion Turkish liras (approx. $854 million).

On the third day of the week, the banking and holding sector indexes fell 1.64 and 1.28 percent, respectively.

The investment trusts index rose the most – 1.96 percent – while the biggest decline was seen in the mining index, which fell 2.67 percent.

The most heavily traded stocks were private lenders Garanti Bank and Akbank, state lenders Halkbank and Vakifbank, and the national flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

Shares of Celebi, a major service provider in the civil aviation sector, were the top gainers percentage-wise with an increase of 2.05 percent, while Ihlas Holding suffered a 6.45 percent slide, the biggest drop of the day.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index fell 0.40 percent in value, with gold trading at 132,100 Turkish liras (some $38,897) per kilogram.

The Turkish lira lost value against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday to trade at 3.3970, compared to 3.3720 at Tuesday's close.

Analysts said investors would follow the actions of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday.