By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s benchmark index closed the day with a 329.06-point decrease to stand at 76,699.41 points on Tuesday.
The BIST 100 index declined by 0.43 percent, and the total trading volume of the benchmark index hovered around 1.5 billion Turkish liras (approx. $426 million).
On the second day of the week, the banking sector index was down by 0.65 percent, and the holding sector index was flat with a 0.08 percent increase. Among all sector indices, the basic metal sector rose the most — 0.69 percent — while the food beverage index fell the most, by 2.90 percent.
The most heavily traded stocks were private lender Garanti Bank, major sports club Galatasaray, the national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, food giant Ulker, and state lender Halkbank.
Dogan Holding, heavily involved in the media sector, enjoyed with a 4.29 percent rise of its shares — the highest of the day. Istanbul’s prominent sports club Galatasaray’s shares saw the largest decline with a 9.12 percent drop.
Shares of Aksa Enerji, a company operating in the energy sector, advanced by 2.85 percent after the company announced that its revenue would reach at 3 billion lira with 12.4 terawatt hours of sales in 2017.
The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index rose by 0.57 percent in value, with gold trading at 129,700 Turkish liras ($36,798) per kilogram as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT).
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate increased to stand at 3.5240 as of 5.00 p.m. (1400GMT) on Tuesday, compared to 3.5080 in Monday’s closing session.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said the country’s Financial Stability Committee is set to discuss problems in the private sector management of foreign exchange risks.
Speaking to broadcaster NTV on Tuesday, Mehmet Simsek said: “Tomorrow or next day we will discuss the foreign exchange risks for businesses and inflation in the Financial Stability Committee.”
