UPDATE - Turkish stocks end day with gains

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Wednesday up 0.66 percent at 97,230.07 points with a total trading volume of around 5 billion Turkish liras ($ 1.07 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 641.87-point hike from Tuesday's close at 96,588.20 points, while it started the day at 96,795.51 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 96,392.09 points and 97,455.05 points, while 66 stocks on the index were on the rise, 29 on the decline, and five flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 641.91 billion liras ($137.87 billion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices increased 1.45 percent and 0.19 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the telecommunication sector index saw the biggest increase, up 2.46 percent, and the chemical petrol plastic sector index dropped the most, losing 1.25 percent.

The shares of energy and mining company Park Elektrik showed the best performance on Wednesday -- up 3.91 percent -- while stocks of diesel engine and tractor manufacturer Tumosan Motor suffered the most, dropping 4.13 percent.

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

On Wednesday, the USD/TRY exchange was 4.6770 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), slightly down from Tuesday's close at 4.6780.

The euro/lira exchange rate stood at 5.4500 by market close, versus 5.4540 at Tuesday's close, and one British pound traded for 6.1940 Turkish liras, while the GBP/TRY rate was 6.1690 at the previous close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $77.73 per barrel -- hovering between $77.62 and $78.22 during the day -- while it was around $66 at the beginning of this year.