UPDATE - Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down 1.44% at Wednesday's close

UPDATES WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed at 1,433.85 points on Wednesday, down 1.44% from the previous close.

Starting the day at 1,455.18 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index lost 20.89 points from Tuesday's close of 1,454.74 points.

The index's lowest value during the day was 1,432.54 points, while its daily high was 1,457.27 points.

The total market value of the BIST 100 was 1.08 trillion Turkish liras ($130.4 billion) by market close, with a daily trading volume of almost 13.08 billion Turkish liras ($1.55 billion).

A total of 11 stocks on the index rose, 87 fell, and two remained unchanged compared to Tuesday's close.

The highest trading volumes were posted by private lender Garanti BBVA, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and another private lender Yapi Kredi.

Stocks of RTA Laboratories, operating in biology and health, were the best performer of the day, rising 4.09%. Stocks of Borusan Mannesmann, manufacturer of welded steel and plastic pipes, dropped the most, falling 4.51%.

One ounce of gold traded for $1,798 by market close, down from $1,810.85 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude oil was around $72.47 per barrel with a 1.1% gain as of 6.34 p.m. local time (1534GMT).