Turkish stocks flat at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day with a 12.53-point uptick to stand at 89,282.25 points Thursday.

The BIST 100 index rose by only 0.01 percent with a total trading volume of 2.9 billion Turkish liras (approximately $795 million) -- relatively low compared to recent weeks.

On the fourth trading day of the week, the banking index declined 0.86 percent while the holding sector rose 0.76 percent.

Among all sector indices, the mining sector was the top gainer of the day -- rising 3.18 percent -- while the tourism index was the worst performer, falling 3.31 percent.

The five most-traded stocks were lenders Halkbank and Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Turkey's leading petrochemicals producer Petkim, and another lender, Akbank.

Shares of Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) enjoyed the top gain of the day -- up 10 percent -- while stocks of Net Turizm (NTTUR), which operates in the tourism sector, saw the largest decline, down 6.45 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate decreased to 3.6370 liras as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 3.6440 at Wednesday's close.

The dollar traded for 3.6230 liras last Friday after seeing a historic hike -- around 3.94 liras -- in mid-January.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index fell 0.21 percent while the price of gold per kilogram decreased to 146,400 Turkish liras (some $40,166) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT), compared with 146,850 Turkish liras (around $40,347) at Wednesday's close.

Analysts said that on Friday investors would follow the Turkish economy's growth figures for last year set to be revealed by the Turkish Statistical Institution.