Turkish shares, lira end lower Friday

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish shares ended lower Friday with losses in the banking and metal sectors driving shares down.

Borsa Istanbul's BIST-100, the country’s benchmark index, traded down 0.52 percent (408.75 points) to close at 78,843.66.

On the last trading day of the week, the banking sector index was down 0.47 percent while the main metal industry index fell 3.14 percent.

The mining sector, on the other hand, was up 0.33 percent with a total trading volume of 2.7 billion Turkish liras ($876 million).

The most heavily traded stocks were private lender Garanti Bank, Turkish Airlines, state lender Halkbank, the country's largest steel producer, Eregli Demir & Celik and energy giant Tupras.

The shares of Eczacibasi Ilac (ECILC), active in the pharmaceutical industry, gained 4.10 percent in value, making it the top percent gainer, while Eregli was the top percent loser, with its shares losing 3.89 percent in value.

The Borsa Istanbul Gold Exchange index lost 0.24 percent in value with gold trading at 125,000 Turkish liras per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Turkey's currency fell against the U.S. dollar, standing at 3.0821 compared to Thursday's close of 3.0575 as the greenback was firm against global currencies in overseas markets amid rising prospects for a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and outgoing military operation in Turkey's neighbours, Iraq and Syria.