UPDATE - Borsa Istanbul up at close

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index rose by 0.27 percent to 97,210.57 points with a trading volume of around 7.5 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.52 billion) in the closing session on Wednesday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 258.34-point increase from last month's close of 96,952.23 points, while it opened the day at 97,121.83 points, up 0.17 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 96,245.44 points and 97,409.55 points, while 40 stocks on the index were on the rise, 52 on the decline, and eight flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 639.9 billion Turkish liras ($130.6 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices lost 0.75 percent and 1.49 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the basic metal sector index was the best performer, rising 4.70 percent, and the construction sector index saw the biggest drop, declining 2.39 percent.

Shares of congolamerate Dogan Holding climbed the most, up 7 percent, while stocks of holding Tav Airports did the worst, falling 7.10 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, defense company Aselsan, iron/steel producer Kardemir and state lender Halkbank.

The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 4.9220 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Wednesday, compared with 4.9110 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.7520 by market close, versus 5.7510 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 6.4680 Turkish liras, compared with 6.4570 at Tuesday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,222.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, compared with $1,220.00 at the previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose to $72.88 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Wednesday, from $74.72 on Tuesday's close.

Turkey's exports in July jumped 11.8 percent to reach $14.1 billion, the Turkish Exporters' Assembly announced on Wednesday.

The country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose 2.2 points to reached 49 points in July, according to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry's survey released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Turkish Statistical Institute reported Wednesday a total of 536,916 road motor vehicles were registered in the first half of this year, up 10.8 percent from the same period last year.