Turkey's Borsa Istanbul down 0.60 pct at close

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index ended Tuesday down 0.60 percent to close at 89,999.90 points.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index saw a 541.63-point drop from Friday's close of 90,541.53 points, while it started the day at 90,883.69 points.

Borsa Istanbul was closed on Monday in observance of Turkey's Republic Day.

The market value of listed shares on the BIST 100 totaled 588.02 billion Turkish liras (around $104.65 billion), while the trade volume of the benchmark index was 5.7 billion Turkish liras (around $1.04 billion).

During the trading day, the benchmark index hovered between 88,564.44 points and 91,387.01 points, while 33 stocks on the BIST 100 rose, 64 fell, and three were flat compared to Friday's close.

On Tuesday, the banking sector index gained 2.93 percent, while the holding sector index lost 2.87 percent.

Among all sectors, the BIST banking index was the best performer of the day, while the BIST transportation sector did the worst, as its index fell 5.25 percent.

The top-gaining stocks of the day belonged to energy company Zorlu (ZOREN), up 12.15 percent, while the shares of leading airport operator TAV Airports Holding (TAVHL) fell the most, losing 9.78 percent.

The BIST 100's trade volume leaders on Tuesday were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, private lender Garanti, top defense company Aselsan, state-run lender Halkbank, and iron and steel producer Kardemir.

By market close, the U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell at 5.4740, versus Friday's close of 5.6350.

The EUR/TRY rate dropped to 6.2290, compared to 6.4030 at the previous close, and one British pound traded for 6.9980 Turkish liras while the GBP/TRY exchange rate was 7.2120 at Friday's close.

In Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, one ounce of gold traded for $1,223.30 by market close, down from $1,234.00 at close on Friday.

As of 6 p.m. local time (1500GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $76.18 per barrel, hovering between $75.28 and $77.38 during the day.

Since the beginning of this year, Brent oil's price has risen from $66 a barrel.