By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index fell by 1.49 percent to close Tuesday at 99,363.79 points with a trading volume of around 6.8 billion Turkish liras ($1.58 billion).

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index ended the day with a 1,502.45-point drop from Monday's close of 100,866.24 points, while it opened the day at 101,354.67 points.

The BIST 100 fell below 100,000 points for the first time in the past 11 months. The index was at 99,825.56 points during trading hours on June 30 last year. The BIST 100 hit its all-time high at 121,531.50 points on Jan. 29, while it has fallen by 15.4 percent since the beginning of this year.

On Tuesday, the benchmark index saw the lowest level at 98,904.07 points and the highest at 101,536.56 points, while 10 stocks on the index were on the rise, 88 on the decline, and two flat compared with the previous close.

The total market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 was 618.5 billion Turkish liras ($145.8 3illion) at the close, while the banking and holding sector indices fell by 1.73 and 1.75 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the BIST basic metal index was the top gainer -- up 3.44 percent -- and the BIST mining index saw the biggest drop, falling 7.27 percent.

Stocks of iron/steel producer Eregli Demir Celik (EREGL) were the best performer with a 4.35 percent gain, while shares of events organizer Flap Kongre Toplanti Hizmetleri (FLAP) fell the most for the fourth trading day in a row, going down 19.93 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded listed companies were iron/steel producer Kardemir, private lender Garanti Bank, national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank and mining company Koza Altin.

The USD/TRY exchange stood at 4.2980 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Tuesday, compared with 4.2630 at Monday's close. During the day, the U.S. dollar/Turkish lira rate saw its historic high, climbing to 4.3017.

The euro/lira exchange rate was 5.0960 by market close, versus 5.0790 at the previous close, while the British pound/lira exchange rate rose to 5.8140, compared with 5.7840 at last week's close.

The BIST Gold Exchange index fell 0.14 percent at the close. In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,311.50 as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Tuesday, compared with $1,313.40 at Monday's close.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $75.29 per barrel -- hovering between $75.18 and $76.13 during Tuesday -- up from around $66 at the beginning of 2018.