Turkey's benchmark stock index down at close

Turkey's benchmark stock index closed the day down 0.16 percent at 107,531.44 points on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index fell 168.28 points with a total trading volume of 4.2 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.2 billion).

Last Thursday, July 27, the BIST 100 climbed to 108,605.51 points -- a historic peak -- and posted its highest close ever at 108,391.71.

On the first trading day of the week, the banking sector index was flat -- down just 0.01 percent -- while the holding sector index went up 0.30 percent.

Among all sectors, the BIST textile leather index was the top gainer, up 1.48 percent, while the investment trusts sector index performed the worst, down 1.74 percent.

Stocks of Turkish conglomerate Ihlas Holding (IHLAS) enjoyed the biggest rise on Monday for the second trading day in a row -- 10.91 percent -- while stocks of Cemtas Celik Makina (CEMTS), which operates in the steel industry, suffered the largest decline, down 5.56 percent.

The BIST 100's most-traded stocks were national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO), lenders Halkbank (HALKB) and Garanti (GARAN), telecommunication giant Turkcell (TCELL), and mining company Koza Madencilik (KOZAA).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate fell slightly to 3.5280 as of 5 p.m. (1400GMT) on Monday, compared with 3.5320 at Friday's close.

Borsa Istanbul's Gold Exchange index rose 0.51 percent, while the price of gold per kilogram stood at 143,350 Turkish liras (some $40,633) as of 4.30 p.m. (1330GMT) on Friday, up from 143,000 Turkish liras (around $40,440) at Friday's close.