Turkish stocks up at close

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index was up 0.28 percent at the close of the daily session on Monday.

The BIST 100 index rose 208.76 points to close at 73,599.70. The total trading volume of the country's stock exchange market was 3.3 billion Turkish liras (approx. $932 million).

On the first trading day of the week, the banking sector index decreased by 0.19 percent while the holding sector index increased by 0.25 percent.

Among sector indices, the mining sector index rose the most -- by 3.55 percent -- while the transportation sector was the worst performer with a drop of 1.14 percent.

The most heavily-traded stocks were lenders Garanti Bank, Akbank, Halkbank, Is Bankasi, and the national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines.

Shares of Besiktas -- one of Turkey's major football clubs currently participating in the UEFA Champions League -- were the top percent gainer with an increase of 8.74 percent in value, while Ihlas Holding was the top percent loser when its shares went down by 3.70 percent.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index declined by 0.21 percent in value, with gold trading at 132,430 Turkish liras (some $37,408) per kilogram.

In the last few days, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been calling on Turkish citizens to convert their foreign exchange savings into liras and gold to help boost the value of the local currency. In accordance with the president’s call, several Turkish chambers of commerce announced on Monday that they would continue commercial transactions in the local currency.

The loss in value of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar stopped on Monday. The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was flat to stand at 3.5400 at 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Monday, compared to 3.5430 at Friday's close.

Meanwhile, analysts said the negative impact of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation after the referendum in Italy on Sunday had been very limited over the European stock exchange markets.

On Monday, Turkish Statistical Institute released the latest inflation figures showing that annual inflation fell to 7 percent in November, compared to 8.10 percent in the same month last year.

On Tuesday, the Turkish Central Bank's announcement about the monetary and exchange rate policy for 2017 is expected to be followed closely by investors.