Turkish stocks up at open

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s benchmark index gained 294.24 points to open at 74,499.72 on Wednesday.

The BIST 100 index rose 0.4 percent. The banking and holding sector indexes were up 0.39 and 0.36 percent respectively.

The mining sector index saw the greatest increase – up 0.7 percent – while the securities investment trusts sector dropped 0.13 percent, the largest fall.

Analysts said investors Wednesday would focus on U.S. private sector employment, individual income, and personal consumption figures as well as eurozone inflation data.

The Turkish lira was higher against the U.S. dollar to trade at 3.4150 early Wednesday, compared to Tuesday's closing rate of 3.43100.