Turkish stocks see new all-time high at Thursday close

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index hit a new all-time high on Thursday to close at 1,426.00 points, up 0.59% from the previous close with the backing of Central Bank's hike in interest rate.

Starting the day at 1,423.88 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 8.34 points over the midweek's close of 1,417.66 points.

During the day, the index hovered between 1,415.35 and 1,432.28 points -- 57 stocks on the index rose and 43 fell compared to the previous close.

The total market value of the BIST 100 was around 1 trillion Turkish liras ($137 billion) by market close, with a daily trading volume of 31.7 billion Turkish liras (nearly $4.1 billion).

The highest trading volumes were posted by private lender Garanti BBVA, petrochemical company Petkim, and national flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

Borusan Mannesmann, a prominent pipe manufacturer, was the best performer, with its shares up 10%, while stocks of Halk GMYO, a real estate investment trust operating under state lender Halkbank, dropped the most with 9.92%

The Turkish Central Bank raised interest rates by 200 basis points from 15% to 17% while stressing its determination to fight inflation.

One ounce of gold sold for $1,860.00 by market close, slightly down from $1,860.65 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude oil was around $50.98 per barrel as of 6.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Thursday, with a daily range of $50.69 to $51.77