UPDATE - Turkish stocks up 1.94 pct at close; lira gains ground

UPDATE WITH MORE DAILY FIGURES

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's benchmark stock index surged 1.94 percent to close at 95,947.73 points on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 1,824.71 points from last week's close of 94,123.02 points, while it started the day at 94,523.72 points.

The benchmark index hovered between 93,812.96 points and 95,947.73 points, while 77 stocks on the index were on the rise, 20 on the decline, and three flat compared to the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was around 624.1 billion Turkish liras ($114.3 billion) at close, while the banking and holding sector indices rose 4.17 percent and 1.84 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the mining sector index was the best performer, rising 4.19 percent, while the real estate investment trusts sector index saw the biggest drop, declining 0.23 percent.

Shares of casting producer Cemas Dokum (CEMAS) climbed the most, up 19.73 percent, while stocks of Turkish conglomerate Ittifak Holding (ITTFH) did the worst, falling 64.70 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were private lender Garanti, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank, private lender Akbank, and leading defense company Aselsan.

The Turkish lira gained value against the greenback after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Turkey was among eight nations granted temporary waivers from sanctions the U.S. reimposed Monday on Iran's oil sector.

China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were also granted exemptions.

Before the announcement, the U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 5.50.

The USD/TRY exchange rate dropped to 5.4050 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Monday, down from 5.4140 at close on Friday.

One euro traded for 6.1590 Turkish liras at close, down from 6.1890 at Friday's close.

By market close, the GBP/TRY exchange rate was 7.0510, versus 7.0730 at the previous close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,230.00, down from Thursday's close of $1,232.40.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil rose to $73.51 per barrel, compared with $72.83 at Friday's close.