Turkish stocks end day with losses
BIST 100 index goes down nearly 2 pct at Tuesday's close, falling some 2,000 points from Monday's close
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Turkey's benchmark stock index fell 1.76 percent to close at 108,744.79 points on Tuesday with a trading volume of around 10 billion Turkish liras ($2.44 billion).
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day 1,942.95 points down from Monday's close of 110,687.74 points, while it opened the day at 111,451.85 points, up 0.69 percent.
During trading hours, the benchmark index hovered between 108,001.08 points and 111,620.98 points, while 10 stocks on the index were on the rise and 90 fell compared with the previous close. The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 677.5 billion Turkish liras ($165.4 billion) at Tuesday's close.
The banking and holding sector indices fell by 2.16 and 0.92 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the BIST telecommunication index was the only one to end in positive territory -- up 0.34 percent -- and the BIST construction index lost the most, falling 5.11 percent.
Energy company Ayen Enerji (AYEN) was the top gainer with a 3.90 percent rise, while shares of Cemas Dokum (CEMAS), operating in the fields of steel, concrete and mining, saw the largest decline, losing 8 percent.
The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, polyester producer Sasa, iron/steel producer Kardemir, and state lender Halkbank.
The USD/TRY exchange was flat at 4.0970 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 4.1050 at Monday's close.
The euro/lira exchange rate was 5.0610 by market close -- down from 5.0860 at the previous close -- and one British pound traded for 5.8780 Turkish liras compared to 5.8960 at the previous close.
The BIST Gold Exchange index showed no percentage change at the daily close. In the Precious Metals and Diamond Markets of Borsa Istanbul, one ounce of gold traded for $1,340.00 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Tuesday -- no change from Monday's close.
As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $71.54 per barrel -- after hovering Tuesday between $70.84 and $71.89 -- climbing from around $66 at the beginning of this year.
