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 Wednesday up 0.76 percent at 92,321.95 points with a total trading volume of around 11.5 billion Turkish liras ($2.4 billion).

On the third transaction day of the week, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 692.40-point hike from Tuesday's close at 91,629.55 points, while it started the day at 91,722.16 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 90,420.97 points and 92,455.97 points, while 42 stocks on the BIST 100 were on the rise, 50 on the decline, and eight flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 609.9 billion liras ($126.1 billion) at the close, while the banking sector index rose 0.60 percent and the holding sector index fell 0.21 percent.

Among all sectors, the wholesale and retail trade sector index saw the biggest increase, up 2.95 percent, while the tourism sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 1.46 percent.

Stocks of iron/steel producer Eregli Demir Celik (EREGL) increased the most, up 4.25 percent, while shares of conglomerate GSD Holding (GSDHO) suffered the worst, falling 5.56 percent.

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

The USD/TRY exchange rose slightly to 4.8180 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), up from 4.8140 at Tuesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate fell to 5.6060 by market close, versus 5.6310 at Tuesday's close, and one British pound traded for 6.2960 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.3510 at the previous close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,226.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Wednesday, versus $1,241.70 at previous close.

As of 6.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil rose slightly to $72.19 per barrel Wednesday, versus $72.03 on Tuesday's close, while it was around $66 at the beginning of this year.