Turkish stocks down 1.48 pct at midweek close

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index ended Wednesday down 1.48 percent to close at 103,310.21 points.

After starting the day at 104,806.63 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 1,550.95 points from the previous close.

During midweek trading, the BIST 100's daily low was 103,181.19 points while it peaked at 105,098.82 points -- 19 stocks on the index rose, 76 fell, and five were flat compared to the previous close.

The index posted a daily trading volume of some 8.3 billion Turkish liras ($1.52 billion), closing the day with a market value of around 680 billion Turkish liras ($124 billion).

By market capitalization, the leading companies of the BIST 100 were Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding, private lender Garanti Bankasi, and energy company Tupras.

The highest trading volumes were seen in stocks of iron and steel producer Kardemir, Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines, and Garanti Bankasi.

Stocks of interest-free lender Albaraka Turk (ALBRK) were the top gainers of the day, up 17.72 percent, and shares of real estate investment trust Emlak Konut (EKGYO) saw the largest decline, dropping 4.62 percent.

One ounce of gold was sold for $1,305.50 at the daily close in Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, versus $1,309.80 at the close on Tuesday.

With a day range of $67.19 to $68.12, the price of Brent oil was around $67.98 per barrel as of 6.10 p.m. local time (1510GMT) on Wednesday.

At the beginning of 2019, the price of Brent oil was around $53 per barrel.