UPDATE - Turkey's benchmark stock index ends day with gains

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Thursday up 0.53 percent at 95,057.23 points with a total trading volume of around 5.3 billion Turkish liras ($1.1 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 505.37-point hike from the previous close of 94,551.86 points, while it started the day at 94,590.32 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 94,324.33 points and 95,398.26 points, while 62 stocks on the index were on the rise, 30 on the decline, and eight flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 608.8 billion Turkish liras ($128.2 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices gained 0.04 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the metal products machinery sector index saw the best performance, up 2.99 percent, while the leasing factoring sector index fell the most, down 1.95 percent.

Stocks of major cement producer Afyon Cimento climbed the most, up 16.35 percent, while shares of electronic appliances retail seller Teknosa did the worst, falling 4.89 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, defense company Aselsan, private lender Garanti, prominent polyester producer Sasa, and another private lender Akbank.

On Thursday, the USD/TRY exchange was 4.7380 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), versus 4.7420 at Wednesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate was stable at 5.4950 by market close, compared with 5.4910 at Wednesday's close, and one British pound traded for 6.2880 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.2680 at the previous close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell 0.30 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,266.25 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, versus $1,270.00 at previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $73.75 per barrel -- hovering between $72.95 and $74.69 during the day -- while it was around $66 at the beginning of this year.