Turkish stocks higher at close

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index was up 0.20 percent at the close of the daily session Thursday.

The BIST 100 index rose 151.40 points to close at 76,360.36. The total trading volume of the country's stock exchange market was 4.1 billion Turkish liras (approx. $1.26 billion).

On the fourth day of the week, the banking sector index gained 0.26 percent while the holding sector index went down 0.02 percent.

Among sector indices, the textile and leather index rose the most by 2.99 percent while the largest drop was seen in the wood paper printing index, which fell 1.69 percent.

The most heavily traded stocks were Garanti Bank, Turkish Airlines, Halkbank, Vakifbank and Akbank.

Shares of Kordsa Global, Sabanci Group's textile company, were the top percent gainer with an increase of 5.60 percent in value, while major coated cardboard producer Kartonsan was the top percent loser as its shares were down 4.40 percent.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index lost 1.79 percent in value, with gold trading at 133,420 Turkish liras (some $41,254) per kilogram.

According to analysts, the U.S. dollar's gaining value against the currencies of developing economies has been continuing to limit the rise of the BIST 100 index. The Turkish lira lost value against the U.S. dollar to trade at 3.2350 compared to Wednesday's closing rate of 3.2090.

Analysts said investors would follow Fed deputy chair Stanley Fischer's speech and the U.S. consumer confidence index figures set to be revealed on Friday. Turkey's current account deficit figures of September are also expected to affect the markets.