Turkish stocks higher at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index was up 0.91 percent at the close of the daily session on Tuesday.

The BIST 100 index rose 685.83 points to close at 76,367.79. The total trading volume of the country's stock exchange market was 4.2 billion Turkish liras (approx. $1.32 billion).

Banking sector and holding sector indices were up 0.50 percent and 1.66 percent respectively.

Among other sectors, the wholesale and retail trade index rose most -- by 2.29 percent -- while the largest drop was seen in the tourism index, which fell 1.47 percent.

The most heavily traded shares were in Garanti Bank, Afyon Cimento, Turkish Airlines, Halkbank and Akbank.

Stocks of Otokar, a major automotive and defense corporation, saw the greatest percentage gain with an increase of 6.48 percent in value. Iron and steel producer Izmir Demir Celik suffered a 4.56 percent fall, the largest of the day.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index fell 0.42 percent in value, with gold trading at 130,580 Turkish liras (some $41,171) per kilogram.

The Turkish lira remained constant at 3.1720 to the U.S. dollar.

Analysts said the U.S. presidential election would be the main factor to affect the markets when they open Wednesday.