UPDATE - Borsa Istanbul down nearly 1.5 percent at close

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index dropped by 1.44 percent to 97,823.15 points with a trading volume of around 5.7 billion Turkish liras ($1.23 billion) in the closing session on Tuesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,426.65-point decrease from the previous close of 99,249.80 points, while it opened the day at 99,600.41 points, up 0.35 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 97,665.35 points and 99,908.51 points, while six stocks on the index were on the rise, 49 on the decline, and 45 flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 617.8 billion Turkish liras ($133.6 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices decreased 2.13 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the leasing factoring sector index was the best performer, rising 1.47 percent, and the sports sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 2.85 percent.

Stocks of event organizer Flap Kongre Toplanti Hizmetleri climbed the most, up 19.84 percent, while shares of automotive manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv were the worst, falling 7.50 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were private lender Garanti, iron/steel producer Kardemir, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, gold company Koza and polyester producer Sasa.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.6120 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 4.5870 at Monday's close. It had hit an all-time high with 4.93 last month.

The euro/lira exchange rate also slightly increased to 5.3810 by market close, versus 5.3770 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded for 6.1670 Turkish liras, compared with 6.1430 at Wednesday's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.06 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold was traded for $1,292.75 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,292.00 at previous close.

The price of Brent oil dropped to $74.17 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Tuesday, from $75.51 at the previous close.