08 March 2018•Update: 08 March 2018
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Turkey's benchmark stock index went down 275.36 points to close at 116,567.08 points on Thursday with a 4.6 billion Turkish lira ($1.2 billion) trade volume.
Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell by 0.24 percent, compared to 116,842.44 points at Wednesday's close. Over the trading hours, the BIST 100 hovered between 116,520.10 points and 117,395.54 points.
On Thursday, 34 stocks in the BIST 100 were up, 58 were down, and eight were flat compared to the previous close.
Among all sectors, the wholesale and retail trade sector performed the best -- up 1.57 percent -- while the BIST transportation index recorded the biggest drop, going down 2.52 percent.
The BIST banking index closed the day down 0.77 percent -- three shares were up and 10 stocks fell among all listed lenders -- while the BIST holding index also saw a decline with a 0.16 percent fall.
Stocks of major polyester producer Sasa Polyester (SASA) were the top gainer with a 3.67 percent hike, while shares of energy and construction company Isiklar Enerji Yapi Holding (IEYHO) posted the worst performance with a 4.76 percent drop.
The BIST 100's most traded listed companies were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, iron and steel producer Kardemir, private lender Garanti, leading petrochemicals producer Petkim and real estate investment trust Emlak Gayrimenkul.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate slightly rose to 3.7960 as of 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) on Thursday. One dollar traded for 3.7960 liras at Wednesday's close.
The EUR/TRY exchange rate was flat at 4.7170 by market close, versus 4.7160 at the previous close.
The BIST Gold Exchange index was also down, falling 0.45 percent, while the price of gold per kilogram stood at 162,500 Turkish liras ($42,657) as of 4.30 p.m. local time (1330GMT), no change compared to the previous close.
As of 6.50 p.m. local time (1550GMT), the price of Brent oil stood at $63.73 per barrel -- hovering between $63.58 per barrel and $64.59 per barrel during the day.
