ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index closed the day at 97,619.00 points on Tuesday, falling 1.34% from the previous close.

After starting the day at 98,368.45 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index slipped 1,326.88 points from 98,945.88 points at Monday's close.

On Tuesday, the BIST 100 hovered between 97,275.89 points and 98,503.31 points.

A total of 34 stocks rose and 66 fell from the previous close.

The benchmark index posted a daily trading volume of 10.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.5 billion) and closed the day with a market value of some 685.1 billion Turkish liras ($99.2 billion).

By market capitalization, Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding ($5.3 billion), private lender Garanti BBVA ($4.9 billion), and major Turkish discount chain BIM Birlesik Magazalar ($4.8 billion) were the leading companies on the BIST 100.

Shares of EIS Eczacibasi Ilac, a pharmaceutical firm operating under the Eczacibasi Group, a major conglomerate, as well as private lender Garanti BBVA and defense company Aselsan saw the highest trading volumes on Tuesday, accounting for 21.5% of the benchmark index's total trade volume.

With a 10% rise, stocks of Logo, a major software producer, performed the best, while shares of private airline company Pegasus dropped the most, losing 3.61%.

The price of one ounce of gold was $1,671.00 by market close, down from $1,684.30 at the previous close, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent crude oil was around $20.02 per barrel as of 6 p.m. (1500GMT) on Tuesday,

The international benchmark fell to as low as $18.02 per barrel, marking its lowest level since February 2002, at 0935GMT on Tuesday for a 29.27% daily loss after it closed Monday at $25.48 a barrel.