UPDATE - Turkey's Borsa Istanbul up nearly 1.5 pct at close

UPDATE WITH MORE DETAILS

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index increased by 1.48 percent to close at 91,386.52 points on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index started the day at 90,518.87 points and gained 1,335.42 points from Wednesday's close of 90,051.10 points.

The BIST 100 peaked at 91,443.11 points, while its daily low was 90,432.32 points.

With a trading volume of 6.7 billion Turkish lira ($1.25 billion), the BIST 100's total market value was around 595,7 billion Turkish liras ($111 billion) as of daily close.

Private lender Garanti Bankasi, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and iron and steel producers Eregli Demir Celik posted the highest trade volumes on Thursday.

Compared to Wednesday's close, 73 stocks on the BIST 100 rose, 22 declined, and 5 were flat.

Shares of Turkish conglomerate Ittifak Holding (ITTFH) were the top gainers, up 9.37 percent, and shares of casting producer Cemas Dokum were the worst, losing 19.49 percent.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was on the decline with 5.3360 at close, down from Wednesday's close of 5.3520.

The euro/lira rate also decreased at close; 6.0700 versus 6.0810 at the previous close.

One British pound traded for 6.7770 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.7690 at close on Wednesday.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, the price of one ounce of gold was around $1,242.70 by market close, down from $1,244.65 a day ago.

Brent crude oil price was $59.95 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, versus $60.15 at previous close.