March 01, 2018•Update: March 01, 2018
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Turkey's benchmark stock index closed Thursday down 1,318.69 points to stand at 117,632.07 points with a total trade volume of 6.9 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion).
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 1.11 percent, down from Wednesday's close at 118,950.76 points. During the day, the BIST 100 hovered between 117,398.70 points and 119,114.52 points.
On a daily basis, 24 stocks in the BIST 100 saw an increase, 70 shares were down, and six stocks were flat compared to the previous close.
Among all sectors, the BIST transportation index was the top gainer with a 1.94 percent rise, and the wholesale and retail trade sector index saw the largest decline, down 3.06 percent.
On Thursday, the BIST banking index ended the day with a 1.27 percent drop -- three stocks were up, nine shares fell, and one stock was flat among all listed lenders. The BIST holding index also went down at close, falling 0.90 percent, while nine shares were up, 25 stocks were down, and two shares were flat among all conglomerates.
Shares of investment trust Global Yatirim Holding (GLYHO) were the best performer -- up 12.28 percent -- and stocks of conglomerate Bera Holding (BERA) suffered the biggest drop, losing 5.56 percent.
The five most-traded company stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Global Yatirim Holding, leading petrochemicals producer Petkim, private lender Garanti, and iron/steel producer Kardemir.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate stood at 3.8140 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, versus Wednesday's close at 3.8010.
The EUR/TRY exchange rate also rose slightly to 4.6500 by market close, while the euro/lira rate was 4.6460 liras at the market close on Wednesday.
The BIST Gold Exchange index was down 0.91 percent and the price of gold per kilogram fell to 160,800 Turkish liras ($42,184) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), compared to 161,350 Turkish liras ($42,462) on Wednesday.
As of 6.30 p.m. local time (1530GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $63.46 per barrel -- the highest level at $65.02 per barrel on Thursday, while the lowest figure was $63.20 per barrel.
