Turkey Stocks: Anadolu Hayat, Bim Birlesik, Garanti Are Active

Turkey’s benchmark ISE National 100 Index (XU100) rose 2.4 percent to 60,835.74 at the close in Istanbul, its biggest gain since Feb. 1.

The following stocks were active. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik AS (ANHYT) , Turkey’s biggest private pension fund, jumped as much as 6.5 percent, the biggest gain since December 2009, after Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said the government plans to increase incentives for pensions. The shares closed 0.8 percent higher at 3.75 liras.

Bim Birlesik Magazalar AS (BIMAS) , Turkey’s biggest discount grocer, jumped 4.1 percent to 64.25 liras, an all-time high, after Chief Operating Officer Galip Aykac said the company planned to increase sales by 25 percent and will open a fully- owned unit in Egypt in the first half of 2013.

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (GARAN) , Turkey’s biggest listed company by market value, added 2.5 percent to 6.66 liras, its biggest gain in a month. Babacan’s comments today on encouraging savings and incentives for pension plans are positive for banks as it could improve their maturity mismatch in the medium term, according to brokerage BGC Partners. (BGCP)

To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at bharvey11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net