Turkish stocks rise 1.96% at midweek close

ANKARA

Turkey's benchmark stock index ended the midweek rising 1.96% to close at 1,145.24 points on Wednesday.

After starting at 1,131.97 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index climbed 21.99 points from 1,123.25 points at Tuesday's close.

Financial market welcomed Turkey's move on reducing the withholding tax rates on Turkish lira deposits and cut tax on foreign exchange purchase on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the BIST 100 hovered between 1,128.96 and 1,146.73 points -- 88 stocks on the index rose, 11 fell, and one was flat compared to the previous close.

Closing the day with a market value of some 847.9 billion Turkish liras ($108.5 billion), the benchmark index posted a daily trading volume of 24.4 billion Turkish liras ($3.1 billion).

Shares of glass manufacturer Sise Cam, defense electronics firm Aselsan and private lender Garanti BBVA saw the highest trading volumes.

Stocks of fertilizer producer and distributer Gubre Fabrikalari registered the best performance, up 10%, while shares of Borusan Mannesmann, a prominent pipe manufacturer, suffered the most, losing 7.56%.

One ounce of gold sold for $1,883.75 by market close, down from $1,888.50, according to data from Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets.

The price of Brent oil was $41.74 per barrel as of 6.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT) on Wednesday, with a daily range of $40.82 to $41.86.