By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index ended the first business day of the year down 2.64 percent to close at 88,865.01 points on Wednesday.

Starting the day at 90,986.13 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 2,405.47 points from Monday's close.

The markets were closed on Tuesday due to the New Year's Day official holiday.

During Wednesday's trading, the benchmark index bottomed out at 88,650.37 points while the highest level was seen at opening.

Total market value of the BIST 100 was around 574 billion Turkish liras ($108.7 billion) as of daily close -- recording a daily trade volume of 3.98 billion lira ($745.6 million).

Top listed companies were Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding ($6.81 billion), private lender Garanti ($6.14 billion), and energy company Tupras ($5.43 billion) by market value.

Highest trade volumes were posted by national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Garanti Bankasi, and state-run lender Halkbank.

On Wednesday, 11 stocks on the BIST 100 rose, 84 declined, and five were flat compared with the previous close.

Shares of casting producer Cemas Dokum were the top gainers -- up 6.58 percent -- as stocks of Verusa Holding fell the most with a 4.22-percent drop.

The USD/TRY exchange rate was 5.3830 at daily close, while one U.S. dollar traded for 5.2920 Turkish liras before the holiday break.

The euro/lira rate stood at 6.1220, up from 6.0550 at the previous close.

One British pound traded for 6.7990 Turkish liras, compared with Monday's close of 6.7810.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, the price of one ounce of gold was around $1,288.40 by market close, versus $1,280.00 at the previous close.

Hovering between $52.52 and $54.39 during the day, the price of Brent oil was around $53.55 per barrel as of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Wednesday.