Turkey's main equity index ended Thursday's session in positive territory, with the BIST 100 finishing the day up 0.50% at the close in Istanbul. Leadership came from companies in the Leasing & Factoring, Transport and Banking sectors, which collectively helped lift the benchmark.
The session's leading outperformer was Destek Finans Faktoring As (IS:DSTKF), which climbed 8.81%, gaining 119.00 points to finish at 1,469.00. Borusan Birlesik Boru Fabrikalari Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS (IS:BRSAN) followed, adding 5.03% or 34.50 points to end the day at 720.00. Kuyas Yatirim AS (IS:KUYAS) also posted a strong result, rising 3.81% or 2.85 points to close at 77.75 in late trade.
On the downside, Kiler Holding AS (IS:KLRHO) recorded the steepest decline, falling 10.00% or 38.25 points to settle at 344.25. Galatasaray Sportif Sinai ve Ticari Yatirimlar AS (IS:GSRAY) dropped 8.15% or 0.11 points to finish at 1.24, while Sok Marketler (IS:SOKM) lost 3.91% or 2.70 points to close at 66.30.
Market breadth was tilted toward declines: 317 stocks fell compared with 272 advancers, and 25 shares closed unchanged on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
There was a notable milestone in the session for Kuyas Yatirim AS (IS:KUYAS), with the stock hitting an all-time high at the close, up 3.81% or 2.85 to 77.75.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery moved lower, down 1.30% or 68.06 to $5,158.14 a troy ounce. Crude oil for April delivery edged up 0.40% or 0.26 to $65.68 a barrel, and the May Brent contract gained 0.88% or 0.62 to trade at $71.31 a barrel.
Foreign-exchange rates showed relatively minor changes at the close: USD/TRY was up 0.06% at 43.88, while EUR/TRY slipped 0.01% to 51.83. The US Dollar Index Futures were higher by 0.18%, trading at 97.80.
Market takeaway - The trading day closed with the benchmark modestly higher, driven by sector-specific strength in leasing and transportation-related names and support from parts of the banking complex, while a larger number of individual stocks ended the session lower.