Turkish stocks up almost 2 percent at close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index went up 1.9 percent to close at 116,592.51 points on Wednesday, with a total trading volume of 8.1 billion Turkish liras ($2.12 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index gained 2,174.35 points, while the banking and holding sectors indices rose by 2.60 percent and 1.99 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the telecommunication sector index was the top performer -- up 4.41 percent -- while the tourism sector index performed the worst, declining 0.22 percent.

The stocks of private equity firm Gozde Girisim (GOZDE) performed the best, up 8.91 percent, while the stocks of Turkish conglemerate Bera Holding (BERA) suffered the most, falling 3.61 percent.

The top five most-traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, automotive manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv, electronics appliances producer Vestel, iron and steel producer Kardemir and private lender Garanti.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose on Wednesday to 3.8230 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), up from 3.7860 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira rate was also up, hitting 4.6730 by market close, compared with Thursday's close of 4.6220.

The BIST Gold Exchange index dropped 0.05 percent in value, while the price of gold per kilogram reached 164,330 Turkish liras (around $42,943) as of 5.30 p.m. local time (1430GMT).

The price of Brent oil was $69.20 per barrel as of 6.50 p.m. local time (1350GMT) Wednesday, versus $69.15 at the previous close.