UPDATE - Turkish benchmark stock index ends day with gains

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Thursday up 2.03 percent at 98,623.65 points with a trading volume of around 9 billion Turkish liras ($2.01 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,965.94-point rise from the previous close of 96,657.71 points, while it opened the day at 96,442.26 points, down 0.22 percent.

The benchmark index hovered between 96,070.16 points and 98,795.28 points, while 76 stocks on the index were on the rise, 18 on the decline, and six flat compared to the previous close.

The banking and holding sector indices rose by 2.85 percent and 2.14 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the chem. petrol plastic sector index was the best performer, rising 4.22 percent, and the sports sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 2.56 percent.

Stocks of private lender Yapi Kredi climbed the most, up 9.13 percent, while shares of event organizer Flap Kongre Toplanti Hizmetleri were the worst, falling 15.30 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were leading defense industry company Aselsan, private lender Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, iron/steel producer Kardemir and energy firm Ipek Enerji.

The USD/TRY exchange dropped to 4.4940 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 4.5670 at Wednesday's close.

The euro/lira exchange rate decreased to 5.3140 by market close, versus 5.3840 at the previous close, and one British pound was traded 6.0320 Turkish liras, compared with 6.1530 at Wednesday's close.

Turkish Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee raised the one-week repo rate, also known as the bank's policy rate, by 1.25 percentage points.

In a statement, the bank said the policy rate had been increased from 16.5 percent to 17.75 percent.

The BIST Gold Exchange index gained in value by 0.59 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,299.70 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,292.10 at the previous close.

The price of Brent oil rose by around 2.6 percent to $76.75 per barrel as of 6.38 p.m. (1538GMT) Wednesday, from $74.83 at the previous close.