Turkish stocks down at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day with a 474.60-point fall to stand at 76,143.59 points on Wednesday.

The BIST 100 index decreased by 0.62 percent with a total trading volume of 2.6 billion Turkish liras (approximately $726 million).

On the third day of the week, the banking and holding sector indices declined by 1.11 and 0.50 percent, respectively. Among all sector indices, the communication sector advanced the most – 1.44 percent – while the basic metal sector declined the most, 3.72 percent.

The most heavily traded stocks were lenders Garanti Bank, Akbank, Halkbank, the country's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and Dogan Holding.

Dogan Holding,heavily involved in media and energy sectors, enjoyed a 5.19 percent rise in its shares – the highest of the day – while shares of Eregli Demir Celik, part of Turkey's major steel producer Erdemir, suffered the largest decline with a 4.62 percent fall.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index rose 0.92 percent in value, with gold trading at 134,200 Turkish liras (some $37,455) per kilogram as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange was flat to stand at 3.5840 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared to 3.5840 in Tuesday's closing session.