Turkish stocks down over 1.25 percent at close

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index was down 1,322.47 points to close at 104,001.20 points with a 4.1 billion Turkish lira (nearly $1.17 billion) trading volume on Thursday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 1.26 percent compared with Wednesday's close at 105,323.67, while the banking and holding sector indices were down 1.92 and 0.94 percent, respectively.

Among all sectors, the basic metal sector index increased the most with a 0.54 percent rise and the BIST mining index saw the largest decline of the day, falling 2.58 percent.

Stocks of conglomerate Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) were the best performer on Thursday, up five percent, while mining company Koza Madencilik (KOZAA) was the top looser; its shares fell 3.75 percent in value.

The top traded shares of the BIST 100 were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), lenders Garanti (GARAN) and Halkbank (HALKB), followed by iron/steel producer Kardemir Karabuk (KRDMD) and energy company Ipek Dogal Enerji (IPEKE).

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index went down 1.58 percent while the price of gold per kilogram fell to 146,500 Turkish liras ($41,820) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT) Thursday, compared with 146,700 Turkish liras ($42,274) at Wednesday's close.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate has climbed over 3.50 level for the first time since Aug. 21. The exchange rate stood at 3.5080 by 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) Thursday, up from 3.4710 at Wednesday's close.

One dollar was traded for 3.51 on average last month, while the first eight month's average exchange rate was 3.61.

The USD/TRY rate saw sharp fluctuations after last year's defeated coup and climbed to its historic hike -- around 3.94 liras -- in mid-January this year.

According to Turkish Central Bank data, the dollar/lira rate was 3.02 on average last year and 2.71 on average in 2015.