By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's benchmark stock index rose by 0.22 percent to 97,185.13 points with a trading volume of around 14.4 billion Turkish liras ($2.66 billion) in the closing session on Thursday.
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 211.27-point increase from Wednesday's close of 96,973.85 points, while it opened the day at 95,661.64 points.
The benchmark index hovered between 95,408.69 points and 98,743.89 points, while 35 stocks on the index were on the rise, 56 on the decline, and nine flat compared to the previous close.
The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 639.1 billion liras ($121 billion) at close, while the banking and holding sector indices lost 1 percent and 0.33 percent, respectively.
Among all sectors, the chemical petrol plastic sector index climbed the most, up 2.34 percent, while the investment trusts sector index saw the biggest drop, losing 1.70 percent.
Stocks of real estate investment trust Ozderici (OZGYO) were the top gainer — rising 19.23 percent — while shares of conglomerate Metro Holding (METRO) saw the biggest drop, falling 13.64 percent.
The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, petrochemical company Petkim, defense company Aselsan, private lender Garanti, and iron/steel producer Kardemir.
The USD/TRY exchange rate rose to 5.4660 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, compared with 4.2840 at Wednesday's close.
The euro/lira exchange rate also climbed to 5.3420 by market close, versus 5.1270 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 7.0550 Turkish liras, compared with 6.8060 at Wednesday's close.
In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, an ounce of gold traded for $1,214.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with $1,209.70 at the previous close.
The price of Brent oil rose to $72.56 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) Thursday, from $72.28 at Wednesday's close.
