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Istanbul shares

slightly higher

ISTANBUL: Istanbul shares closed slightly higher after last minute buys money entering the cash-drained bourse helped the index pick up, brokers said.

The IMKB-100 ended at 45,404.72 points up 234.65 points, as gainers outdid losers 75 to 64 on 206 issues traded.

Daily volume was 7.6 trillion lira, beating Tuesday's 7.03 trillion.

"There was a certain amount of cash entry into the bourse. Last minute buys as well as selective demand in the session especially for public sector shares helped the index gain strength," Huseyin Istanbullu, broker at Meksa Securities, said.

Brokers said trade was quite volatile in the session, at times very dull and at times gaining speed due to selective demand the centred on the shares of Eregli (EREGL.IS), the partially-privatised flat steel giant.

They added the index's upward movement at end-session may be the signal for possible gains in tomorrow's session.

The 78-share industrial index (.ISEI) ended 0.35 percent higher at 51,432 and the 21-share financial index (.ISEF) gained 1.09 percent to end at 36,586.

Eregli, the session's most active share, ended the day unchanged. Shares of Kepez Elektrik, a utility firm, gained 3,5000 lira to end 35,000.-Reuter