Turkey's benchmark stock index closes up at 1.7%

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index went up 1.7% to close at 96,809 points on Tuesday.

After starting the day at 95,676.89 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index climbed 1,617.33 points from Monday's close of 95,191.67 points.

The BIST 100 peaked at 97,102.07 points with a daily low of 95,676.89 and 79 stocks on rise, 14 falling, and seven flat compared to the previous close.

The benchmark index posted a daily trading volume of 5.9 billion Turkish liras ($1 billion), as it closed the day with a market value of some 640 billion liras ($111 billion).

The highest trading volumes were recorded by the stocks of national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti Bankasi and state lender Halkbank.

Shares of real estate investment trust Ihlas Gayrimenkul (IHLGM) showed the best performance -- up 4.88% -- and stocks of Ege Endustri (EGEEN), which manufactures components for the automotive industry, did the worst, falling 2.86%.

One ounce of gold was sold for $1,284.45 at the daily close in Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets versus the previous close of $1,287.

A barrel of Brent oil was sold for $71.21 as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Tuesday -- with a daily range of $70.75 to $71.41.

At the beginning of 2019, the price of Brent oil was around $53 per barrel.