Turkish stocks down over 1.5 pct at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Tuesday down 1.66 percent to stand at 112,271.86 points with a 7.6-billion-Turkish lira ($1.97 billion) trade volume.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 1,893.81 points, compared with Monday's close at 114,165.67 points -- its highest ever close, after hitting its all-time peak at 115,093.34 points.

The banking and holding sector indices declined by 3.42 and 1.86 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the textile leather sector was the top gainer with a 1.92 percent hike and the BIST transportation index fell 3.93 percent, the biggest drop on Tuesday.

Shares of conglomerate Koc Holding’s defense company Otokar (OTKAR) rose the most -- up 6.45 percent -- while real estate investment trust Kiler GMYO (KLGYO) suffered the largest decline of the day, as its stocks dropped 5.77 percent.

Stocks with the highest trade volume were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), defense company Aselsan (ASELS), private lender Garanti (GARAN), followed by iron and steel producer Kardemir Karabuk (KRDMD) and real estate investment trust Emlak Gayrimenkul (EKGYO).

The BIST Gold Exchange index went up 0.16 percent, while one kilogram gold traded at 157,000 Turkish liras ($40,621) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), down from Monday's closing price of 157,850 Turkish liras ($40,722).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate decreased to 3.8630 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 3.8730 at Monday’s close.

On the second day of the week, the EUR/TRY rate also declined to 4.4690 by market close while one euro traded for 4.4890 liras at Monday's close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) Tuesday, the price of Brent oil was $63.76 per barrel, compared with Monday's close at $62.80.