March 15, 2018•Update: March 15, 2018
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Turkey's benchmark stock index fell 391.13 points to close at 117,201.54 points on Thursday with a 5.68 billion-Turkish-lira ($1.46 billion) trade volume.
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index declined by 0.33 percent, compared to 117,592.67 points at Wednesday's close. During the trading hours, the BIST 100 hovered between 117,030.89 points and 118,149.33 points.
On Thursday, 37 stocks in the BIST 100 were up, 52 were down, and 11 were flat compared to the previous close while the total market value of the listed shares in BIST 100 amounted to 734 billion Turkish liras ($190.2 billion) as of daily close.
The banking and holding sector indices closed the day down 1.16 percent and 1.44 percent, respectively. Among all sectors, the BIST mining index performed the best -- up 2.01 percent -- while the BIST holding index recorded the biggest drop.
Stocks of major iron and steel producer Kardemir (KRDMD) were the top gainer with a 3.81 percent hike, while shares of energy company Aksa Enerji (AKSEN) went down the most, falling 2.99 percent.
The BIST 100's most traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, energy company Zorlu Enerji, private lender Garanti, followed by Kardemir and gold miner Koza Altin.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate climbed to 3.8980 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) on Thursday, compared to 3.8860 liras at Wednesday's close.
The EUR/TRY exchange rate stood at 4.8110 by market close. One euro traded for 4.8010 liras at the previous close.
The BIST Gold Exchange index also declined -- going down 0.51 percent -- while the price of gold per kilogram rose to 165,600 Turkish liras ($42,492) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), versus 164,800 Turkish liras ($42,543) on Wednesday.
As of 6.55 p.m. local time (1555GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $65.05 per barrel -- hovering between $64.61 per barrel and $65.38 per barrel during the day.
