Turkish stocks down at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day with a 478.93-point fall to stand at 82,300.32 points on Thursday.

The BIST 100 index went down by 0.58 percent with a total trading volume of 4.6 billion Turkish liras (approximately $1.20 billion).

On the fourth day of the week, the banking and holding sector indices decreased by 1.19 and 0.95 percent, respectively. Among all sector indices, the communication index advanced most with a 0.83 percent hike while the textile leather sector fell 2.54 percent.

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

Ihlas Holding enjoyed a 9.68 percent rise -- the highest of the day -- while Odas Elektrik, produces electricity, suffered a fall of 4.51 percent, the largest decline of the day.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index declined by 0.71 percent while gold was trading at 147,910 Turkish liras (around $38,633) per kilogram as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate increased to stand at 3.8260 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 3.7820 in Wednesday's closing session.

On Thursday, international credit agency Fitch said on Twitter that Turkish banks were highly dependent on foreign funding and political risks could undermine economic performance and banks’ asset quality.

"Negative outlooks in Turkey, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia contribute to downside risks for banks," the institution added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed western allies and international credit rating agencies for the fall of the Turkish currency, which recently plunged to record lows against the U.S. dollar.

Addressing village heads (mukhtars) at the presidential complex in Ankara on Thursday, Erdogan, referring to international markets, said: "Our economy is being targeted by floating exchange rates. They try everything to slow economy by troubling suppliers and consumers. They take every chance to scare investors and block investments.”

“A lot of international institutions, notably the European Union, make unfair accusations,” he added, referring to recent unflattering reports on Turkey’s situation.

Analysts said Fed head Janet Yellen's speeches plus China's industrial production figures would be followed by investors on Friday.